EPA tells court it will redo Bush-era smog rule

[September 17, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration signaled Wednesday that it would scrap a controversial Bush-era rule that set stricter limits for smog but fell short of scientific recommendations.

In a notice filed Wednesday in a federal appeals court, the Justice Department says there are concerns that the revision made by the Bush administration does not adhere to federal air pollution law. The Environmental Protection Agency will propose revised smog standards to protect health and the environment in late December.

"This is one of the most important protection measures we can take to safeguard our health and our environment," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in a statement. "Reconsidering these standards and ensuring acceptable levels of ground-level ozone could cut health care costs and make our cities healthier, safer places to live, work and play."

Smog is a respiratory irritant that can aggravate asthma and has been linked to heart attacks.

The Bush regulation, announced in March 2008, was the subject of much controversy, although it was estimated that it would have prevented thousands of hospital and emergency room visits and 1,400 fewer heart attacks.

While stronger than the previous rule, it wasn't as tough as the government's independent scientific advisers had recommended. Documents later showed that then-President George W. Bush had intervened personally on the level of smog protection for wildlife, farmlands, parks and open spaces.

EPA officials had wanted to make this secondary standard stronger than the one to protect human health. But the White House sided with its budget office, where officials argued that the two standards should be the same.

Eleven states and a number of health and environmental organizations filed suit against the Bush regulation, arguing that it ignored the recommendation of a key panel of scientists. Industry groups, whose emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds form smog in sunlight, also sued to weaken the standard.

The office of New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday its lawsuit would be put on hold until the EPA issues new rules.

In a statement, Cuomo said that the Obama EPA's conclusion "that the smog standards promulgated under the Bush administration were weak and insufficient" opens the door for real, science-based standards that will protect the environment and public health.

In March, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to delay the legal proceedings so the EPA could review the standards.

The Bush regulation set a maximum airborne concentration for ground-level ozone at 75 parts per billion.

EPA's science advisory board -- and most health experts -- had recommended a limit of 60 to 70 parts per billion to adequately protect the elderly, people with respiratory problems and children.

Environmentalists applauded the agency's decision Wednesday.

Frank O'Donnell, president of advocacy group Clean Air Watch said that if EPA follows the science and the law "it will inevitably mean tougher smog standards than those issued by the Bush administration."

The brief filed Wednesday indicates that the agency will attempt to reach some sort of agreement on the case in coming weeks.

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On the Net:

Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/groundlevelozone/

[Associated Press; By DINA CAPPIELLO]

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