Grist
June 22, 2007

Johnson Stiffens Smog Rules
Current U.S. ground-level ozone standard deemed insufficient

Smoggy air could get cleaner if a new U.S. EPA standard passes muster. Agency head Stephen Johnson has proposed lowering the allowable amount of ground-level ozone from 80 to 84 parts per billion to 70 to 75 ppb, since "the current standard is insufficient to protect public health." But the agency will hold a 90-day public-comment period on several options, including Johnson's plan; a recommendation from an EPA scientific panel to make the standard even stricter; or, eh, leaving it where it is. Fossil-fuel lobbyists and other panic-stricken people will no doubt weigh in; said one Texas environmental official of the new standard, "It would basically shut down our entire region, period ... the quality of life we have been able to enjoy basically goes away." Um. Fans of functional lungs, on the other hand, say the new standard doesn't go far enough: it is, says David Ingbar of the American Thoracic Society, "unhealthy for America's kids, unhealthy for America's seniors, and unhealthy for America."