by Rebecca Walker — January 13, 2010 The Obama administration has proposed stricter limits on smug. Compliance costs could be tens of billions of dollars, but officials say the rules could also save billions, as well as lives.
More than 300 counties—mainly in southern California, the Northeast and Gulf Coast—already violate the requirements adopted two years ago by the Bush administration. The new regulations would be stricter.
The smog limits under consideration by the Environmental Protection Agency could more than double the number of counties in violation, says an article in the Associated Press. For the first time, counties in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa might be forced to clamp down on emissions from industry and automobiles, or face government sanctions, most likely the loss of federal highway dollars.
The proposal presents a range for the allowable concentration of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, from 60 parts per billion to 70 parts, as recommended by scientists during the Bush administration. EPA plans to select a specific figure within that range by August. Counties and states will then have up to 20 years to meet the new limits, depending on how severely they are out of compliance. They will have to submit plans for meeting the new limits by end of 2013 or early 2014.
For more information, see the EPA Web site.
