The EPA said its decision to leave the ozone standard unchanged reflected scientific consensus.
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WASHINGTON—The Trump administration retained a national limit of 70 parts per billion for the pollutant ozone, the same standard set by the Obama administration, after business groups fought tougher standards.
Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency must review safety standards for certain pollutants every five years, with a mandate to consider only the latest science on public health and not the cost of implementation. Some environmental and health-advocacy organizations had pushed for a tightening of allowed ozone levels or a delay of the decision on setting new limits.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told reporters that Wednesday’s decision to leave the ozone standard unchanged would protect public health while reflecting the consensus of scientists at the EPA and outside advisers.
He also said the decision was reached within the clean-air law’s five-year deadline to review national air-quality standards, for what he said was just the second time in the agency’s history.
Manufacturers and energy companies are the most likely to benefit from a decision not to tighten ozone standards. Ground-level ozone, which comes from manufacturing plants, utilities and cars, can exacerbate a range of respiratory problems, including asthma.
A 2015 update of the standard reduced the ozone limit from 75 parts per billion, which had been set by the George W. Bush administration in 2008.
The Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA staff that has been critical of the Trump administration, said the agency should have delayed the decision to consider the public-health risks caused by Covid-19, which can affect the lungs.
“During the next five years—before the standard for ozone would be reconsidered—we have no certainty that the dark shadow of Covid-19 will disappear,” said Bernie Goldstein, a former EPA official and member of the group.
Mr. Wheeler said the agency needed to meet its statutory deadline but could immediately begin reconsidering the standard based on new scientific studies.
—Timothy Puko contributed to this article.
Write to Ryan Tracy at [email protected]
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Appeared in the December 24, 2020, print edition as ‘U.S. Keeps Its Ozone Pollution Standard.’
