EPA tightens ozone rules, nobody happy

Environmental groups said the new National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone will be 70 parts per billion, down from 75 parts per billion. It’s the first tightening of the ozone standard since 2008.

Ozone is the primary component in smog and typically concentrates in high population areas. It particularly affects people with asthma, children and the elderly.

Officials at the EPA said they would not confirm the amount in an email to reporters. A formal announcement is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

The news comes as a blow to environmental groups.

The Obama administration originally proposed lowering the standard to somewhere between 65 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion. In the last two weeks, many environmental groups led a push to go as low as 60 parts per billion, but it seemed those efforts stalled as greens spoke to reporters earlier this week about their frustrations with a 70 parts per billion standard.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said he was disappointed.

“The Obama administration has fallen short of setting a smog standard that fully protects the health of our families, making this decision a missed opportunity to clean up our air and protect the most vulnerable Americans,” he said. “Lowering the smog standard from 75 to 70 ppb is a modest step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough to protect the millions of Americans living in communities with dangerously high levels of smog pollution.”

Many opponents of the ozone regulations have complained that much of the country, including some areas considered to be pristine wilderness as well as national parks, will not be able to comply with the stricter standard. They have lashed out at the regulation’s costs and speculated that it could be the costliest regulation in history.

The EPA has estimated the costs for a 70 parts per billion standard to be about $3.9 billion annually starting in 2025.

Industry groups, such as the National Association of Manufacturers, have run television advertisements against the regulation in the weeks leading up to the announcement.

That group estimates the regulation could lead to the reduction of 1.4 million jobs, bring down the country’s gross domestic product by $140 billion annually and end up costing a total of $1.7 trillion by 2040.

Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, blasted the lowered standard by calling it a “gut punch to poor and middle class families.”

“By further harming the economy, this regulation will make it harder for local communities to fix their roads and build new schools, small business owners to keep their doors open, and manufacturers to bring back jobs from overseas,” Pyle said.

States would have between 2020 and 2037 to meet the proposed health standard. The dates for specific areas would vary based on the amount of ozone in that area. For instance, some counties in California would have attainment dates between 2032 and 2037, according to the EPA.

The agency will decide which areas are in compliance in October 2017 based on data from the previous three-year period.

According to the government, the new regulations could prevent up to 4,300 premature deaths, up to 2,300 cases of acute bronchitis in children, 4,300 asthma-related emergency room visits, 960,000 asthma attacks in children and up to 1 million missed school days.

The health benefits save the country as much as $13 billion annually if the standards are met in 2025, the EPA estimates.

The last change in the ozone standards came in 2008 when George W. Bush’s EPA set the standard of 75 parts per billion. While many counties have made progress toward that goal, there are still parts of the country that are not complying with that standard.

The ozone regulations are required to be examined every five years. President Obama put the kibosh on lowering the standards in 2011, a decision that was seen by many environmental groups as an example of the president kowtowing to business groups.