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EPA pushes for new ozone regulation

The recent midterm elections bring a Republican-controlled Congress and a new attempt to short-circuit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-proposed rule on ozone from ever becoming finalized.

The EPA initiative would force cities and towns to consider new permitting requirements on factories that emit pollutants resulting from the use of such things as solvents, paints, and other chemicals. The EPA proposed on Nov. 26 to reduce the acceptable ozone level from 0.75 parts per billion (PPB), where it was set in 2008 under President George W. Bush, to somewhere between 0.65 and 0.70 PPB. That 0.75-PPB standard has not been fully implemented to date because the EPA has yet to formalize technical regulations.

“The Obama administration hasn’t even fully implemented—or seen the consequences of—existing rules, yet here we see another effort to slow job growth and send jobs overseas,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a statement after the ozone proposal announcement. “The new Congress will review the rule and take appropriate action.”

Ground-level ozone forms in the atmosphere when emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are exposed to the sun. These emissions generally originate from vehicles, factories, and power plants. Excessive ozone levels lead to respiratory ailments, particularly among children and seniors.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy cited research done since 2008 as the reason for lowering the standard.

"Studies indicate that exposure to ozone at levels below 0.75 PPB—the level of the current standard—can pose serious threats to public health, harm the respiratory system, cause or aggravate asthma and other lung diseases, and is linked to premature death from respiratory and cardiovascular causes,” she said.

Individual cities and geographic regions have the authority to take a variety of remedial actions to reduce their ozone levels if they are over the EPA-established limit. Potential remedial action could include tightening factory emissions of VOCs or limiting use of certain chemicals, such as solvents.

Meanwhile, industry supporters are concerned about the potential damage that such a new law could inflict.

Scott Segal, an environmental policy expert at Bracewell & Giuliani, a Washington, D.C.-based law and public policy firm, said lowering the ozone limit from 0.75 to 0.65 PPB could create a situation where as much as 94 percent of the nation is in violation of the proposed ozone regulation, meaning above 0.65 PPB.

"Before the Obama administration moves the goalposts with yet another set of requirements that will make it more difficult for manufacturers across the country, they need to allow existing ozone standards to be implemented and give time to American businesses to meet those already stringent and onerous requirements,” said Jay Timmons, president and CEO, National Association of Manufacturers.

About the Author

Stephen Barlas

Contributing Writer

Stephen Barlas is a freelance writer that has more than 30 years of experience covering Congress, the White House, and the many regulatory agencies found in Washington, D.C. He has covered issues affecting the metal fabricating industry for The FABRICATOR for more than a decade.