Ratcheting Down On Ground-Level Ozone

The Obama EPA is proposing to tighten the nation's air quality standard for ground-level ozone, a move that could carry a big price tag for industry while delivering large health benefits to Americans.

The agency proposed setting a standard to between 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million of ozone to protect public health. This would strengthen the current standard, set in 2008 by the Bush EPA, of 0.075 ppm.

Depending on the level of the final standard, EPA estimates the proposal would cost between $19 billion and $90 billion to implement and would yield health benefits of between $13 billion and $100 billion.

The proposal, issued on Jan. 7, is identical to the range that the agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee in 2006 said would provide an adequate margin of protection for millions of people susceptible to respiratory illnesses.

"Using the best science to strengthen these standards is a long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier," says EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Endorsing the plan are the American Lung Association and other health and environmental groups.

"This EPA decision will determine the quality of the air we breathe in America for the next decade, and probably beyond. If EPA follows through, it will mean significantly cleaner air and better health protection," says Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental group.

Many industry groups are opposing it, saying the proposed ozone standard will be too expensive to meet. In addition, the American Petroleum Institute says, "The action lacks scientific justification." API adds, "There is absolutely no basis for EPA to propose changing the ozone standards promulgated by the EPA Administrator in 2008."

The American Chemistry Council, a trade group of chemical manufacturers, did not respond to comment on the proposal by C&EN's deadline. ACC opposed the ratcheting down of the ozone standard by the Bush Administration.

If finalized, the proposed standard would require state and local regulators to clamp down on ozone-forming emissions from industry and vehicle traffic.

"State and local air quality officials are fully aware of the daunting challenges implementation of such new standards will pose," says S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. "However, as stewards of the air that citizens of this nation breathe, we stand ready to face, and overcome, those challenges."