The Environmental Protection Agency will delay enforcing compliance with new ground-level ozone standards by one year.
The EPA, under President Barack Obama's administration, issued new ground-level ozone standards of 70 parts of ozone per billion parts of air in the fall of 2015, stricter than the previous standard of 75.
At the time, all of Arkansas was meeting both the standard of 75 and the new standard of 70, officials said, although Crittenden County had not been officially designated as in compliance. It was designated as in compliance in 2016, and the rest of Arkansas remains in compliance with the standard of 75, with average ozone readings below 70.
The EPA estimated that nearly every county in the state would be in compliance with the new standard by 2025 without having to do anything to reduce emissions. Some major metropolitan-area counties, such as Harris County, Texas, which contains Houston, would not be.
Areas above the ideal ozone level are evaluated by the state to determine how to meet ozone goals. Solutions often involve controls on emissions sources and more intensive permitting processes for businesses.
Ground-level ozone, often referred to as smog, 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 for people who already have them.
High levels of ozone can create respiratory problems for anyone who goes outside.
Ozone is measured daily. An area's ozone levels are calculated by taking the fourth-highest daily ozone level each year for three years of ozone data, then averaging those numbers. Ozone season, when levels are expected be higher than normal because of rising air temperatures, is May 1 through Sept. 30.
Current EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sent a four-paragraph letter to governors Wednesday announcing his decision, stating that his agency needed more time to consider the recommendations made by state governors. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recommended a designation of full compliance in September.
"This additional time will also provide the Agency time to complete its review of the 2015 ozone [National Ambient Air Quality Standards], prior to taking this initial implementation step," Pruitt wrote.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards are part of the Clean Air Act.
The 2015 rule change said that areas would be designated as in attainment or not in attainment in 2017, when the EPA would consider data from 2014 through 2016. Now, that will be done in 2018.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who sued the EPA over the new ozone standards, released a statement Wednesday saying that Pruitt "made the right decision" and said ozone regulations placed "financial strain on small, rural communities."
The decision was lamented elsewhere.
Glen Hooks, director of the Arkansas Sierra Club, said public health should be a higher priority than economic factors.
"The improved ozone protections were designed to give us cleaner air, fewer asthma attacks, and a healthier America," he said in a statement released Wednesday.
Organizations such as the Sierra Club and the American Lung Association argued in 2015 that the new ozone standard wasn't strict enough, while organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and utility groups said the new standard was too strict.
Metro on 06/08/2017