TALLAHASSEE—The Bush EPA this
evening announced a flawed new national air quality standard for ozone “smog” and
called for sweeping changes to the Clean Air Act that threaten to fundamentally
weaken one of the nation’s most important environmental laws.
“Ozone smog can harm even the healthiest lungs, and today’s decision will leave many Floridians at risk of asthma attacks and other health problems from breathing dirty air,” said Holly Binns, Field Director for Environment Florida.
The
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), a group of expert outside
scientists who advise the EPA Administrator on air quality standards, unanimously
recommended that EPA issue an ozone standard no greater than 0.070 parts
per million (ppm), but EPA Administrator Johnson this evening announced a new
standard of 0.075 ppm. No previous
administration has ever rejected the CASAC’s scientific advice. The Bush EPA also ignored the CASAC’s advice
last year in setting a new standard for fine particle “soot” pollution.
In
addition, under the guise of “modernizing” the Clean Air Act, the EPA Administrator
called for fundamental changes to the law, including requiring implementation costs
to be considered in setting air quality standards and allowing states and local
areas to ignore air pollution problems.
The
Clean Air Act requires air quality standards to be set based solely on a pollutant’s
impacts on public health, a matter of science - not consideration of the
potential costs of implementation of the standard.
“The
Bush EPA has been doing industry’s bidding for seven years, but this takes the
cake. These changes would strike at the
heart of the Clean Air Act and take us back decades in protecting Americans
from air pollution,” said Binns.
Ozone is a powerful pollutant that can burn our lungs and
airways, causing health effects ranging from coughing and wheezing to asthma
attacks and even premature death. Children, senior citizens, and people
with lung disease are particularly vulnerable to the health effects of
ozone.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must set air quality standards at levels that
protect public health, including sensitive populations, with an adequate margin
of safety.
Many industries have been lobbying furiously in recent weeks for a weak ozone
standard and have long sought major changes to the Clean Air Act.
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