Court Upholds Ozone Pollution Standard

A federal appeals court last week upheld the legality of EPA’s air quality standard for ozone, which the agency set in 2008 during the George W. Bush Administration. The American Lung Association and other public health advocacy groups challenged the national ambient air quality standard of 75 ppb as being too weak. An independent committee of experts had urged EPA to set the health-based ozone standard between 60 and 70 ppb. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the agency was not required to adopt the advisory committee’s recommendation. “EPA’s invocation of scientific uncertainty and more general public health policy considerations satisfies its obligations” under the Clean Air Act, a three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision.