EPA must get tough on ozone

By Nathan Willcox

and Robert Tweel

On Thursday, representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are coming to Philadelphia to ask our opinion on a seemingly simple question: Do we want less ozone "smog" pollution in our air? Our answer for the agency is equally simple: Listen to the scientists, obey the law, and set the most protective air-quality standard for ozone possible.

Ozone is a powerful pollutant that burns our lungs and airways. Ozone is not emitted directly from pollution sources but rather forms when pollution from power plants, cars, and industrial sources reacts with heat and sunlight. Ozone levels in the United States typically rise from May to October, when warmer, sunnier conditions are most prevalent.

While air quality in the United States has improved over the last three decades, one-third of the U.S. population - more than 99 million Americans - still lives in areas with unsafe levels of ozone, according to the American Lung Association. The American Lung Association recently gave Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties "F" grades for their high levels of ozone. Ozone exposure can harm even the healthiest lungs, but children, teenagers, the elderly, and people with lung disease are most vulnerable to the health effects of ozone exposure, which can trigger asthma attacks and even cause premature death.

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. In 2006, the independent Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee reviewed 2,000 pages of data on the health effects of ozone and unanimously concluded there was no scientific justification for retaining the current ozone standard, set in 1997. The scientific advisers recommended significantly increasing the ozone standard to protect public health.

On June 20, EPA proposed strengthening the national air-quality standard for ozone, but the agency's proposal is weaker than what its own scientific advisers said was necessary to protect the health of all Americans. Alarmingly, the new EPA proposal also leaves the door open to retaining the current ozone standard. Not coincidentally, in the weeks leading up to the release of the EPA's proposal, representatives for the electric utilities, big oil, chemical industry, and the automakers organized high-level meetings with Bush administration officials to discuss the new ozone standards.

The science is clear about what EPA needs to do to protect public health, and the law is clear about the agency's obligation to do so. That will be our message on Thursday, when the Bush administration holds a public hearing in Philadelphia - one of five hearings scheduled nationwide - on its proposed standards for ozone. We encourage citizens to help us deliver this message by attending the hearing in person.

The EPA should resist industry pressure and instead adopt the most protective ozone standard recommended by its scientific advisers. Only then will we be able to breathe easier.