April 30, 2004—Thirty-one governors were recently told by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that areas of their states do not meet new health standards for ground-level ozone. Part or all of 474 counties nationwide are in nonattainment for either failing to meet the 8-hour ozone standard or for causing a downwind county to fail.
However, the vast majority of counties, 2,668 in all, meet the new, more protective standards, including all of Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Mississippi, Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, and 11 other entire states. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt stressed that the new ozone designations do not represent failure. “This isn’t about the air getting dirtier,” he said. “The air is getting cleaner. These new rules are about our new understanding of health threats; about our standards getting tougher and our national resolve to meet them.”
EPA simultaneously issued a new rule classifying areas by the severity of their ozone conditions and establishing the deadline state and local governments must meet to reduce ozone levels. Once designations and classifications take effect on June 15, 2004, states and communities must prepare a plan to reduce ground-level ozone.
Measures that states and localities may be required to take to control ozone pollution may include stricter controls on emissions from industrial facilities, additional planning requirements for transportation sources, or other programs like gasoline vapor recovery controls. EPA plans to work with states and local governments to help develop innovative approaches to meeting the new standard.
EPA also announced the Clean Air Rules of 2004, which include national tools to help states and communities meet the national standard for ground-level ozone. The Clean Air Interstate Rule addresses power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), both of which blow across state lines and significantly impact pollution levels in downwind cities. The Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule will regulate emissions from construction and other nonroad equipment powered by diesel engines. The rule also cuts sulfur levels in diesel fuel by more than 99 percent over current levels.
Ozone aggravates asthma, damages the lining of the lungs, and makes breathing more difficult, explains EPA. Cars, trucks, power plants, and industrial facilities are primary sources of the emissions that lead to ground-level ozone, a primary ingredient in smog.
More information and a full listing of EPA’s designations of state and tribal areas is available from EPA. Information about the Clean Air Rules of 2004 is also available from EPA.
