December 28, 2017
On December 7, 2017 fourteen states, the District of Columbia and environmental organizations
announced that they have sued the Trump administration over what they say is a failure to enforce ground level ozone smog standards according to a Tampa Bay Times report.
Projected 8-hour ozone non-attainment areas.
Click image above to enlarge.
On December 20, 2017 a three-judge Court of Appeals panel for the District of Columbia Circuit mandated that the EPA file a report by Jan. 12 “identifying with precision and specificity when it plans to file a final rule establishing air quality designations for the 2015 70 ppb ozone national ambient air quality standards for those areas in the United States that remain undesignated” according to a report from The Hill.
The demand from the Court came after the EPA said in November which areas of the country comply with the regulation, but refused to say which areas do not comply.
Both kinds of designations were due Oct. 1, two years after the Obama administration finalized its major ground-level ozone 70 ppb rule.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt opposed the regulation in his previous job as Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general and sued to stop it.
Earlier this year, Pruitt attempted to delay by one year the compliance designations. Facing lawsuits, he walked that back. But he still hasn’t said which areas don’t comply.
In nonattainment areas, states must write plans to reduce ozone pollution. Since most ground-level ozone is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, those plans would likely seek to restrict fossil fuel use.
What this means to you
A three-judge Federal Court of Appeals panel has mandated EPA file a report by Jan. 12 “identifying with precision and specificity when it plans to file a final rule establishing air quality designations for the 2015 70 ppb ozone standards for U.S. areas that remain undesignated.”
MIRATECH can help
Contact MIRATECH for stationary engine emission control of NOx and VOCs.