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Obama administration tightens smog limits but satisfies few
Obama administration tightens smog limits but satisfies fewEnergy and Environment
By Juliet Eilperin October 1 at 11:53 AM
The Environmental Protection Agency tightened limits on smog-related pollution Thursday, but the new standard falls far short of what environmentalists and public health experts had recommended.
The new threshold for ground-level ozone, which forms when emissions from power plants, other industrial facilities, vehicles and landfills react in sunlight, will be lowered from its current level of 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70. EPA’s scientific advisory committee had recommended the agency set the new level somewhere between 60 and 70 ppb.
The issue of how to regulate smog, which can cause or aggravate such health problems as asthma and heart disease and is a suspect in premature death, has been a contentious one for decades. While the determination is supposed to be made solely on scientific concerns rather than economic ones, any lowered limit carries enormous economic consequences for states and cities across the nation. Communities that consistently fail to meet the standard could eventually face restrictions on certain kinds of industrial development.
“EPA has threaded the needle in strengthening the ozone standard,” said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which represents state and local air regulators. “The agency has appropriately balanced the views of divergent stakeholders with the public’s right to breathe clean air. By following the expert advice of its independent science advisers, EPA has set the stage for state and local air pollution control agencies to begin implementing this important program.”
By Juliet Eilperin October 1 at 11:53 AM
The Environmental Protection Agency tightened limits on smog-related pollution Thursday, but the new standard falls far short of what environmentalists and public health experts had recommended.
The new threshold for ground-level ozone, which forms when emissions from power plants, other industrial facilities, vehicles and landfills react in sunlight, will be lowered from its current level of 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70. EPA’s scientific advisory committee had recommended the agency set the new level somewhere between 60 and 70 ppb.
The issue of how to regulate smog, which can cause or aggravate such health problems as asthma and heart disease and is a suspect in premature death, has been a contentious one for decades. While the determination is supposed to be made solely on scientific concerns rather than economic ones, any lowered limit carries enormous economic consequences for states and cities across the nation. Communities that consistently fail to meet the standard could eventually face restrictions on certain kinds of industrial development.
“EPA has threaded the needle in strengthening the ozone standard,” said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which represents state and local air regulators. “The agency has appropriately balanced the views of divergent stakeholders with the public’s right to breathe clean air. By following the expert advice of its independent science advisers, EPA has set the stage for state and local air pollution control agencies to begin implementing this important program.”