Ground-level ozone is formed when emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities, vehicles and landfills react in the sunlight. Smog can cause or aggravate health problems such as asthma and heart disease, and it has been linked to premature death.
The federal government normally reviews the standards for ground-level ozone — which includes a ”primary” one for public health and a “secondary” one aimed at the environment — every five years. But EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson chose to revisit the standards, the most central of which was set under the George W. Bush administration at 75 parts per billion in March 2008, because that level was significantly higher than the 60 to 70 ppb recommended by the EPA’s scientific advisory committee at the time.
In January 2010 Jackson announced that she would set the primary standard somewhere between 60 and 70 ppb, and indicated she would finalize it that summer.
But the proposed regulations have become contentious, largely because they require counties to keep local pollution in check or risk losing federal funds. While the most polluted areas would have up to 20 years to meet the new standards, business leaders suggest it could delay the permitting of not only new industrial facilities but the expansion of existing ones.
The Washington region has one of the worst ozone problems in the country.
Leaders of some of the nation’s most influential business groups — including the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council — planned to meet this week about the rules with White House chief of staff William M. Daley and OMB officials.
American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said in an interview Saturday that the fact that the rule has not been finalized, as outlined in an agency filing in federal court, “is a positive sign that the adults are in the room, and there’s a serious conversation about a job-destruction regulation.”
He added that because senior Obama administration officials are scrutinizing the proposal, “My hope is now that they’re engaged, they’re going to ask the fundamental question: Why are we doing this to ourselves if we don’t have to?”
In recent weeks state and local officials have complained directly to the White House. John Perdue, West Virginia’s state treasurer, sent a letter to Daley and spoke to a member of his staff in protest.
“We’re an energy-producing state. It’s about our economy; it’s about jobs,” Perdue said in an interview, adding that it made sense to appeal to the White House. “You go to the guy that’s in charge, which is the president of the United States, who could have a major influence on whether these rules become final or not.”
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