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US EPA’s Tighter Ozone Standards to Impact
Nation and Ohio
On March 12, 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced that the agency
has approved an adjustment to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of the Clean Air Act.
This adjustment lowered primary and secondary ozone-attainment levels from 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to 0.075 ppm based on an 8-hour average.
This adjustment creates the most stringent ozone standards ever and the first revision to ozone attainment levels since 1997.
Under the revised rules, states must make recommend whether counties qualify as attainment or non-attainment by March 2009,
non-attainment areas will be designated by US EPA in 2010, and enforcement of the new standard will begin in 2013.
The revised rule will also required Ohio to amend its recently-revised State Implementation Plan (SIP).
Based on studies completed to date, EPA estimates that approximately 345 counties throughout the
United States will be designated “non-attainment” under the revised rules. This includes approximately
32 Ohio counties that will be “non-attainment” under the revised rules. Positive health benefits resulting from the more stringent ozone
standards are projected to include reduced asthma, bronchitis, and non-fatal heart attacks.
However, operation in a non-attainment area can be significantly more expensive based on tighter emissions restrictions resulting in increased compliance costs.
The estimated cost of implementing the revised standards for manufacturing and other impacted industries will be approximately $7.6 to $8.5 billion
annually. These higher standards will certainly impact economic development trends throughout the nation, and in
Ohio, as manufacturers and other industries attempt to locate in areas that still qualify as “attainment.”
Recognizing the
economic impacts of implementing these standards, EPA proposes that decision-makers also consider benefits, cost,
risk tradeoffs, and feasibility in making decisions about how to implement these revised standards under the Clean Air Act.
For more information contact Frank Merrill
or Brett Breitschwerdt
Resources Available on the Ozone Standards
Full Text of the
Final National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone
As posted on the EPA website
Summary of the Final Standards
Fact sheet on the final rules prepared by EPA
Counties Projected to Violate 2008 Ozone Standard in 2020
EPA model projections for 2020
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