Officials see cost in ozone rule bid

Areas don’t meet tougher standard

As the public comment period comes to a close Tuesday on stricter ozone standards that the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed, some Arkansas officials are concerned about the economic impact on the state.

Ozone occurs naturally in the atmosphere but forms at ground level when car exhaust and industrial emissions react to high temperatures and sunlight.

Exposure to ground-level ozone can intensify allergies or respiratory problems. Under worse weather conditions, high levels of ozone can create respiratory problems.

The agency’s proposed rule — announced in November — would lower the threshold for ozone pollution from 75 parts of ozone per billion parts of air to a range of 65 to 70.

The 75 parts-per-billion level was approved in 2008 during the administration of President George W. Bush.

The EPA said ozone levels between 50 and 75 parts per billion are considered “moderate,” and anything above 75 is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”

In a summary of the rule, the EPA said it is “proposing this revision to increase public health protection, including for ‘at-risk’ populations such as children, older adults, and people with asthma or other lung diseases, against an array of … [ozone-related] adverse health effects.”

The EPA said short-term exposure to ozone can cause respiratory problems and result in emergency room visits. Long-term exposure can cause respiratory problems that lead to death.

Current federal standards measure the fourth-highest ozone level for each of three years and average the numbers. To be in compliance, that average cannot exceed 75 parts of ozone per billion parts of air — the point at which ozone alerts are issued.

Taking the past three years into account, Little Rock’s average is 71 parts per billion — a level aided by two wet, mild summers in a row.

In 2013, the three-year average was 76 parts per billion, and in 2012 it was 77 parts per billion. Five sites around the state averaged below 70 parts per billion last year.

State Environmental Quality Department spokesman Katherine Benenati said much of the state, including parks, may not be able to comply with the new standards if they are enacted.

When a region falls out of compliance, the state must eventually develop an emissions inventory that estimates emissions and their sources for that area. Eventually, officials have to implement programs or regulations to improve the air quality.

Crittenden County has not been in compliance since 2012, although Environmental Quality Department officials expected it to be declared in compliance after low ozone levels last year.

The county, which is considered part of the Memphis region on ozone compliance, will have a public hearing on the subsequently proposed emissions inventory. The Memphis ar--

ea is a trucking and shipping hub, which causes ozone levels to be higher there.

The Environmental Quality Department is concerned that a nonattainment designation would lead to “permitting uncertainty and additional costs such that economic development plans would be preempted or curtailed,” Benenati wrote in an email.

Benenati also said the standards could have an effect on rural communities, which don’t have the resources that Congress has afforded larger metropolitan areas.

Benenati said the department plans to submit comments to the EPA and generally supports retaining the current standards.

Under the revised standards, “you would have a much more difficult time getting air-quality permits to expand plants,” said state Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Randy Zook. He added that the new standards would be economically detrimental.

“Most of the state would be in nonattainment and therefore unable to get those permits,” he said.

Under the proposed changes, states would have up to 20 years to meet the new standards before facing federal penalties.

The EPA estimated that meeting the standard of 70 parts of ozone per billion parts of air would cost industries $3.9 billion in 2025, or $15 billion that year if the 65 parts-per-billion standard is implemented instead.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said the standards would make communities healthier and spur growth in business and investment.

The EPA and environmental advocacy groups originally supported standards as low as 60 parts per billion, but the EPA backed off that proposal after President Barack Obama expressed concern. Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press.