EPA set to seek stronger smog limits

The Obama administration on Wednesday will propose a sweeping new rule aimed at reducing the ozone pollution that causes smog, according to a report.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule would seek to cut emissions from manufacturers, power plants, fuel refineries and other fossil-fuel-burning operations, the latest in a salvo of pollution-fighting rules from Obama.

{mosads}The Wednesday proposal will seek to cut the allowable concentration of ground-level ozone to between 65 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion, from the current 75 parts per billion, The New YorkTimesreported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the rule.

As with other air pollutants, states must submit plans to the EPA to bring areas’ pollution under the threshold the agency sets.

Because ozone is a byproduct of fossil fuel pollutants, energy-intensive industries such as manufacturers and oil refiners expect to be hit hard by any reduction.

Environmental and public health groups had been pushing for a lower limit since the George W. Bush administration set the 75-parts-per-billion standard in 2008. The groups cited studies that showed that ozone is harmful to respiratory function of humans and animals, in addition to plants and other environmental harms.

But business groups think any reduction will increase their costs and put a damper on new development.

The American Chemistry Council blasted the rule Tuesday.

“We are very concerned that EPA appears to be lowering the ozone standard before finishing the job on the current standard,” the group said in a statement. “With air quality improving, maintaining the current standard would enable further reductions in emissions while supporting U.S. manufacturing growth.”

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), incoming chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, promised to fight the rule, saying it “will lower our nation’s economic competitiveness and stifle job creation for decades.”

Earlier Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute called for the EPA to consider keeping the 75-parts-per-billion standard, because many states have not yet figured out how to comply with it.