The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced for the third time that it needs more time to issue a set of rules that decide how aggressively the United States will need to fight ground-level ozone (smog).聽
EPA plans to ask its scientific advisers for 鈥渁dditional advice,鈥 a process that will push back a final decision until the end of July 2011, according to the Agency.聽 EPA鈥檚 proposed ozone standard would likely result in a large portion of the U.S. being in nonattainment. 澳门六合彩开奖预测 is interested in this rulemaking because a 鈥渘onattainment鈥 designation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) may result in construction bans in geographic areas so designated by EPA.
While EPA had originally aimed to set a new national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone in August 2010, the agency pushed back the deadline until October 2010, and then until December 2010.聽 Now EPA has asked a federal appeals court to extend its deadline to July 29, 2011, citing a need to consult with the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) to address technical questions.聽 CASAC is the independent scientific review committee established and tasked by Congress with giving EPA advice on air quality standard setting.
Criticism from Industry, Lawmakers
According to EPA, the Agency received 鈥渕ore than 5,000 unique comments鈥 on its proposed rule reconsidering the ozone NAAQS.聽 澳门六合彩开奖预测 commented that EPA should not tighten the 2008 ozone NAAQS because businesses and industries would incur increased costs, permitting delays and restrictions on expansion, forcing them to either impose higher prices on their customers or relocate out of the nonattainment area.聽 澳门六合彩开奖预测鈥檚 letter points out that given the absence of new or different scientific data, EPA should maintain the current ozone standards. Moving to change the standard again, outside of the Clean Air Act's normal five-year review process, as local communities are struggling to meet the existing standard, would be unfair and unwise, 澳门六合彩开奖预测 stated.
The National Association for Manufacturers claims that the proposed NAAQS could cost 7.3 million jobs by 2020 and add $1 trillion in new regulatory costs between 2020 and 2030.
The administration鈥檚 plan to tighten the ozone standard also has drawn criticism from many lawmakers.聽 Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who is the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote a letter with Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, who continues to serve as the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, stating that they are "gravely concerned" about the direction EPA is taking.聽 EPA鈥檚 proposal would cause hundreds of areas across the country to fail clean-air standards. That leads to federal sanctions, which Inhofe and Upton say are akin to hanging a "closed to business" sign on the door.聽 The lawmakers are expected to schedule hearings on the smog standard and other regulations coming out of EPA to question the Agency on the "quality and rigor of the science" behind the ozone decision, the letter states. 聽Click here to read the lawmakers' letter.