State Officials Oppose Tougher Ozone Pollution Rules

WASHINGTON — With state officials in Georgia, Texas and elsewhere opposing tougher rules, the Environmental Protection Agency has three weeks to propose new limits on the amount of unhealthful ozone it will allow in the air.

A draft of the proposed new standards, which has not been made public, is being reviewed by the White House.

The agency is under a court order to propose a new set of standards — which can be no more than a restatement of the current standards, if EPA chooses — by June 20.

Staff members and a panel of outside advisers have recommended that levels of the air pollutant be lowered significantly below the current limits, which many counties already fail to meet.

"Overwhelming scientific evidence" supports recommendations by EPA scientists that the current limits be lowered because of damage ozone does to hearts and lungs, the agency's board of scientific advisers told administrator Stephen L. Johnson two months ago.

But Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Texas Environmental Quality Commission Chairman Kathleen Hartnett White and other state officials have appealed to the Bush administration to resist that advice.

"Given my understanding of the facts, I urge you to use your discretion and decline a premature revision of the ozone air quality standards," Perdue said in a letter to Johnson.

Perdue noted that implementation of the existing ozone standards was delayed by litigation, and as a result many states are only now developing plans for meeting the current rules.

"A new set of requirements and deadlines could be disruptive to our progress," he said.

White said she was not convinced that the staff's recommendation that limits be tightened, perhaps by as much as 25 percent, are based on sound science.

"I question whether the benefit of lowering the standard has been completely examined," she said.

"If the standard is lowered, I expect a significant negative consequence to the economy of our state," she said.

But new standards are needed to protect human health, said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental advocacy group.

"This is shaping up as a classic clash between science and politics," said O'Donnell, who made public letters written to EPA and the White House by Perdue, White, the governors of Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi and others.

"We fear industry-generated pressure will influence the White House and undercut new standards needed to protect kids with asthma and others," he added.

Ground-level ozone is formed when two groups of pollutants, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, combine. The largest sources of the substances are electric power plants and motor vehicles.

The subject of the debate is EPA's eight-hour ozone standard, which is an average of averages.

First, the agency averages the ozone concentration in the air over American cities during eight-hour periods. Then it takes the fourth-highest average for each of three years and averages those.

To be in compliance with current federal Clean Air Act standards, this figure must be no more than 0.08 parts per million.

In a 600-page report issued in January, EPA scientists recommended that Johnson propose a new ozone standard "within a range of somewhat below 0.08 parts per million to 0.06 parts per million."

Even at the lower concentration, ozone likely would cause problems for sensitive groups, such as persons with asthma and heart disease, the agency staff scientists said.

"The current air quality standards for ozone fail to protect public health," the heads of 20 environmental and health advocacy organizations said in a letter to Johnson.

"This conclusion is scientifically established and unequivocal," they added.

Under a consent decree issued by a federal judge in Washington, EPA has until June 20 to "propose" a new standard and must issue the final rule by next March.

Atlanta is currently classified as a "marginal" area, meaning its score falls between 0.092 and 0.107 parts per million.

Austin and Longview, Texas, are among a small group of regions that have agreed to reduce ozone to the current standard ahead of schedule. Therefore, they are classified as in compliance.

The Dayton-Springfield, Ohio area is listed as a general "non-attainment" region.

The entire state of Florida is regarded by EPA as in compliance with the current 0.08 standard.