The Environmental Protection Agency announced new air quality standards for ozone.
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In the end, the EPA angered everyone.
David Baron, managing attorney for Earthjustice, said that 70 is “way above the level that doctors say we need to protect people from death, from hospitalization, from asthma attacks, from other serious health impacts”. That’s down from 75 parts per billion, but far above the level of 60 parts per billion many environmental groups were calling for.
Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, said one way to reduce tailpipe pollution from cars is to encourage low-emission vehicles as neighboring states are already doing.
Ozone is the primary component in smog and typically concentrates in high population areas. There is no question about that. “Scientific evidence shows that ozone can cause a number of harmful effects on the respiratory system, including difficulty breathing and inflammation of the airways. We are very concerned that a few projects – new facilities, plant expansions and factory restarts – will remain in limbo until EPA explains how to obtain a permit under the new standards”.
Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp told the EPA in a March 17 letter on her letterhead, and signed by an aide, that if ozone levels are reduced significantly, it would harm the state’s manufacturing economy and that “half of all counties in Wisconsin” could be designated as in violation of the law.
The standards will be put under the congressional microscope nearly immediately.
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The Clean Air Act requires EPA to review the ozone standards every five years to determine whether they should be revised in light of the latest science.
“This new rule is a solution in search of a problem”, Wicker said.
The DEP, however, said the EPA must take the lead in reduce smog-causing pollution from so-called mobile sources, since states have limited authority to directly regulate those sources.
“These new standards yank the rug out from under many communities who are still scrambling to implement the 2008 standards”, said Upton and Whitfield.
Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, said the standards are a step in the right direction, but not enough.
EPA head Gina McCarthy said she had tried to be guided by science in an effort to protect Americans’ health.
The lung association and other groups have pushed for an ozone limit of 60 parts per billion, saying it would have given Americans much greater health protections. By that year, the benefits of meeting the standard will be worth between $2.9 billion and $5.9 billion per year, EPA says.
Industry groups, such as the National Association of Manufacturers, have run television advertisements against the regulation in the weeks leading up to the announcement.
Nonetheless, industry groups and conservative lawmakers lambasted the new rule, declaring it costly and unnecessary. “For months, the Administration threatened to impose on manufacturers an even harsher rule, with even more devastating consequences”. “After an unprecedented level of outreach by manufacturers and other stakeholders, the worst-case scenario was avoided”.
McCarthy assured reporters that “only about 14 counties” outside of California – a state that has struggled to control smog for years – wouldn’t be able to meet the standard by 2025. He called on Congress to get involved.
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“The fact that we are now under the standard doesn’t mean our work is done”, the PCA said in a statement released Thursday.
