Monday, May 31, 1999

Standard on ozone left in air by ruling

---

BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Anna Kelley, quality assurance and monitoring coordinator for the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, checks a chart monitoring levels of nitrogen oxide. | ZOOM |

        Memorial Day marks the re-emergence of seersucker from closets and smog as an Official Tristate Obsession.

        Harbingers include smog alerts and renewed exhortations to drive less, ride buses more and use gas-powered lawn tools after 6 p.m.

        In their wake come perennial warnings for asthmatics, young children and other susceptible people to stay inside during bad ozone days.

        New this year is uncertainty whether the Tristate faces new emission controls on utilities, other industries and vehicles.

        On May 14, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., put the tough, new national ozone limit on hold.

        Judges said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its rule-making authority in the way it picked 84 parts per billion (ppb) as maximum allowable ground-level ozone. The court, however, apparently left the 84 ppb standard intact — if in limbo — while the EPA redoes its rulemaking or appeals the decision.

        EPA imposed the new limit because it concluded that the original 124 ppb standard did not protect health adequately.

        “I'm not sure of anything,” said Heidi Griesmer, Ohio EPA spokeswoman on air issues. “We apparently have a new standard that may be in place but cannot be enforced.”

        Maybe not. The court deci sion reinstated the old limit and no one is under the new standard, suggested environmental scientist Bill Jones at the EPA's regional office in Chicago.

        Or, as Glen Brand, director of Sierra Club's new Cincinnati office, put it, “We see no reason that the (84 ppb) standard is not in effect ... Instead of playing word games, we need to address the smog health threat in Cincinnati by support ing several current air-quality plans affecting Midwest power plants, SUVs (sports utility vehicles) and sulfur levels in gasoline.”

        The only certainty visible last week was at the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services. There, staff monitored ozone and other pollutants, as they always do, sure their data will be used for smog alerts and compliance questions whenever the EPA and the courts resolve their differences.

        Anxiety was evident at the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments. It fears the loss of federal grants for communities trying to comply with the EPA's ozone standard.

        “Now that we have no standard, period, we're not sure what will happen to Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funds,” OKI Executive Director Jim Duane said.

        OKI colleague Judi Craig said CMAQ provides $7.3 million annually to subsidize Metro bus purchases and smog season fare reductions, to buy and maintain Park and Ride lots in Southwest Ohio, and run the Regional Ozone Coalition's clean air and smog alert programs.

        The stunning May 14 court ruling deflated what otherwise would have been cause for celebration in Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties:

        On May 12, the EPA confirmed that their residents — and a break from the weather — brought ground-level ozone within the 124 ppb limit. In EPA smog-speak, the agency proposed “revoking” that standard because the Tristate was in “attainment” during the past three summers. The proposed rulemaking also would end EPA threats of sanctions for “nonattainment.”

        However, the EPA put off that decision after the May 14 court decision.

        The hard-fought 84 ppb limit was not universally praised by the health community. Jennifer Price, spokeswoman for the American Lung Association, said it was based on “strong scientific evidence” and was “a move in the right direction,” but it fell short of “significant” health benefits from the 70 ppb her group favored.

        Still, assuming EPA wins its appeal or finds another way to reimpose the 84 ppb standard, compliance won't be easy, say number-crunchers at the national Clean Air Network, the Ohio EPA and the Kentucky Division for Air Quality.

        Based on 1996-1998 data, the Tristate cannot comply with the 84 ppb limit, but Ohio and Kentucky may submit 1997-1999 data if they are better.

        Averaging 1997-1998 readings, network and state officials calculated maximum allowable ozone at each of the 10 Tristate monitors in 1999. Their numbers show that compliance will be tough, if not impossible, without further emission controls.

        Failure to comply carries no immediate penalty, the EPA was still writing the rules when the court dropped the hammer May 14.

        Another uncertainty involves Ohio and Kentucky plans to cut local and downwind ozone to acceptable levels. To comply during the coming decade, the Tristate would have to maintain current emission controls and reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from utilities and other large coal-fired boilers. (NOx is a vital ingredient in the creation of ozone on hot, sunny days.)

        The Ohio EPA says the federally mandated 85 percent NOx reduction is excessive, and cheaper 65 percent NOx cuts might suffice.

        The Ohio EPA, Cinergy and others are challenging federal NOx rules in a separate court case. On Wednesday, the court put NOx reduction deadlines on hold until it can hear fuller arguments.

        Meanwhile, E-check — meant to catch the 10 percent to 15 percent of vehicles that pollute unacceptably — continues.

       

---

Names of vets live on at memorial
Corryville shooting suspect in custody after standoff
Girl, grandmother escape
Principal imparts wisdom in book
Amusement parks safe, reports show
Good morning, Cincinnati
Need a map or directions? Internet offers drivers plenty of help
Trail of cookies leads to capital
War's hard at any age
West-side plan riddled with doubt
Wish list asks for $11.7M
New life for grand old hotel
Patriotic sculpture coming to Edgewood, its creator's home
Planes to soar, loop at air show
Standard on ozone left in air by ruling
Dogstar crowd comes to ogle Keanu Reeves
GET TO IT
TRISTATE DIGEST