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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Environment - New air standards in the works: potential Indiana impact

Dan Stockman of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette writes about upcoming changes in a lengthy story that begins:

Indiana’s governor had come to what many believe is the state’s capital of pollution to trumpet historic reductions in the poisons dumped into the air.

“Today is an historical first and a major milestone,” Gov. Mitch Daniels told the Gary Chamber of Commerce on April 30 as he announced that, for the first time in the state’s history, all 92 counties had met federal standards for ground-level ozone, a powerful respiratory agent and the main ingredient in smog.

It was indeed a major milestone – if it were 1997.

“There’s two ways to look at it,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a Washington-based environmental watchdog. “It’s a sign of progress, and that’s a good thing. It shows we can make progress toward clean air without disrupting the economy.”

But the standard Indiana met is woefully out-of-date.

“The less good news is those standards are no longer viewed as adequate for protecting people’s health,” O’Donnell said. “Even the EPA under President Bush recognized that.”

The standards Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency set in March 2008 would have replaced the looser 1997 rules. But those standards were never implemented because states, public health and environmental groups sued the government when it was revealed the proposed standards were weaker than what the EPA’s own scientists had said was needed. In essence, the EPA was accused of violating federal law by not enforcing the Clean Air Act.

But even under the never-implemented 2008 standard, at least a dozen Indiana counties would be in violation, the EPA estimates. And now, under President Obama, the EPA is proposing even tougher standards, which could put 27 Hoosier counties in violation, including Allen and Huntington.

The American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report has given Allen County a grade of F two years in a row because of ozone levels.

Daniels admits the state is trying to hit a moving target.

“This is a limbo contest; each time we get under the bar, we know that soon we’ll be aiming for one that’s even lower,” Daniels said.

For now, no one knows how much lower. The EPA expects to announce its proposal by Aug. 31; the agency has already said the ozone standard will be between 60 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion. The current standard – the one set in 1997 – is 85 parts per billion.

“The bottom line is the standard needs to be more protective,” O’Donnell said.

The story continues with sections on economic sanctions and safety.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 20, 2010 12:49 PM
Posted to Environment