Ozone Settlement Could Help Clear the Air

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, November 15, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to determine, by April 2004, which areas of the country are not meeting 1997 federal standards for ozone air pollution. The agency announced a settlement this week in a federal lawsuit brought by a coalition of environmental and public health groups over the EPA's implementation of the 1997 program.

Court papers filed Wednesday call on the EPA to formally determine, by April 15, 2004, which areas fail to meet national standards for ozone. If the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C approves the proposed settlement, the EPA could begin implementing the 1997 regulations as soon as the noncompliance determinations are completed, said EPA spokesperson Joe Martyak.

Industrial emissions of nitrogen oxides are a key contributor to smog. (Two photos courtesy EPA)

Once the EPA makes those determinations, state and local programs will be called on to reduce smog emissions to meet the standards.

"This settlement means that work can begin to attack ozone and greatly reduce the risk to the most vulnerable Americans, including children, seniors, and people with asthma and other chronic lung diseases, from exposure to ozone smog," said John Kirkwood, president and CEO of the American Lung Association (ALA). "The long wait since 1997 has meant that our air has stayed dirty far too long and many more people have suffered."

The ALA was one of several public interest groups that brought suit against the EPA over the 1997 ozone rules. The environmental law firm Earthjustice represented the ALA, along with Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.

Five state and regional groups, including the Alabama Environmental Council, Clean Air Council, Michigan Environmental Council, Ohio Environmental Council, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, also participated in the suit, represented by the Clean Air Task Force.

Communities may need to target pollution from cars and trucks to meet the 1997 ozone rules.

In 1997, the EPA revised the national ozone standard to 0.08 parts per million, averaged over eight hours, strengthening the previous standard of 0.12 parts per million averaged over one hour. Although Congress directed EPA to determine, no later than July 2000, which areas fail to attain the new ozone standard, the agency has yet to do so.

"Existing designations inaccurately portray areas with unhealthful levels of ozone as compliant with the Clean Air Act. The public has a right to designations based on reality - not just wishful thinking," said Howard Fox of Earthjustice, lead counsel for the environmental and public health groups. "These standards were upheld by the courts and it's time the American people began to breathe the benefits."

The 1997 ozone standards were based on years of scientific review and mounting evidence of the public health risks of ozone. Ozone is an irritant that leaves the lungs inflamed, as though they were sunburned.

Ozone also causes asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing and other respiratory distress, and has been linked to increased use of medications, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits. Recent studies showed that ozone levels low enough to comply with the previous ozone standard - levels experienced each year by millions of people around the nation - are still high enough to cause significant health impacts.

Dozens of cities, including often smoggy Atlanta, do not currently meet the 1997 ozone caps. (Photo courtesy Department of Health and Human Services, Region 4)

"While it's unfortunate we had to bring a lawsuit to force EPA to carry out its most basic responsibilities in protecting public health from air pollution, the harmful smog levels of the past summer are a compelling reminder of the unacceptable public health impacts of delayed progress," said Environmental Defense senior attorney Vickie Patton.

In the Washington DC region, for example, health officials declared a total of nine code red days, marking hazardous air pollution conditions, and two code purple days, marking very unhealthy air quality. Other cities across the nation experienced similar conditions; in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, officials declared a record 21 ozone action days, up 7.4 percent from 2001.

"We need all sides of the issue across the country to roll up their sleeves and work together to address this serious public health problem," Patton added.

But industry representatives who have challenged the 1997 regulations say they may prove prohibitively expensive to meet. Jeffrey Marks, director of air quality for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), called the 1997 ozone rule "one of the most expensive environmental regulations ever."

Implementation of the rule could cause areas labeled as noncompliant to issue stricter regulations for development, leading industries to seek other areas for their new plants and undercutting the economies of polluted areas, Marks warned.

NAM joined the American Truckers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in challenging the 1997 rules in court. Their lawsuit eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2001, ruled that the EPA does not need to consider economic impacts before issuing rules aimed at protecting the environment and public health.

Coal burning power plants are a major source of smog and soot pollution. (Photo by Carole Swinehart, courtesy Michigan Sea Extension)

Environmental groups argue that ozone levels can be reduced cost effectively, by using a combination of federal, state, and local efforts. For example, the adoption of new federal emissions standards and cleaner fuel requirements to reduce the emissions of ozone forming pollutants from construction equipment and other large non-road engines would make a major contribution to healthier air quality.

"Responsibility for important clean up activities is now squarely with the states, and we look forward to working with states to achieve progress on cleaning up our air," said John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The benefits of cleaner air to the American people have been delayed for over five years, and we must make sure there are no further delays."

The consent decree is available online at: http://www.nam.org/Docs/REP/25601_Lodged_Consent_Decree.pdf