PROVIDENCE
-- All five counties in Rhode Island have failed to meet the
Environmental Protection Agency's new standard for healthy ozone
levels, according to a report to be released by the agency today.
The
new standard -- called the eight-hour standard -- is more stringent
than the one-hour standard it replaces by defining violations over an
eight-hour period and averaging peak levels over three years. The new
standard replaces a one-hour measurement standard widely criticized for
not taking into account the health effects that can be caused by
long-term exposure to ozone.
The
new standard grew out of a lawsuit brought against the EPA by
environmental groups. Those groups argued that the one-hour standard
did not comply with the Clean Air Act of 1990 and was not protective of
public health.
Few
of those environmental organizations fully welcome the new standard
because it allows states three more years to meet the deadline for
air-quality standards -- from 2007 to 2010.
Rhode
Island has exceeded healthy ozone levels on a consistent basis since
2000 and it is not alone. All but a handful of coastal areas from
Connecticut to Maine are in violation of the eight-hour standard, as
are all counties in Massachusetts.
Ozone,
also known as ground-level smog, is a lung irritant, causes increased
asthma attacks in children, and has been likened by the EPA to
"sunburn" of the lungs. It peaks during the hot summer months. Contrary
to popular belief, the worst smog is caused less by increased auto
traffic than it is by stagnant weather.
The
last bad air-quality day in Providence was last Aug. 22, when the
temperature reached 90 degrees. Ozone levels that day reached higher
than the .085 parts-per-million ceiling the EPA designates as the
cutoff for healthy air quality .
The
issue of how to meet the new standard is a thorny one for a small state
like Rhode Island whose air pollution comes from afar. A recent EPA
study found that more than 90 percent of the state's air pollution
comes from other states. Some of those states include New York, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania.
By
2007, the state has to have a plan for meeting the 2010 deadline on the
EPA's new eight-hour standard, said David Conroy, air program chief for
the EPA.
But any plan will be highly dependent on the plans adopted upwind of Rhode Island, said Conroy.
"What we're urging the state to do is to work together on regional strategies," Conroy said.
A
regional strategy will be crucial to any implementation plan submitted
to the EPA by 2007, said Stephen Majkut, air quality chief at
Department of Environmental Management.
The state is already a member of the Ozone Transport Commission, which is working on regional plans to help reduce ozone levels.
However,
some of the state's ozone problems might involve cooperation from
states that are not part of that commission, such as Kentucky and Ohio,
said Majkut. Studies have shown that such faraway states also
contribute pollution to Rhode Island.
"Those states are not trying to do anything to reduce emissions," said Majkut.
However, there are many programs that can be implemented in Rhode Island that may help lower ozone levels.
One
of those is adoption of a minimum energy efficiency standard. Two bills
are currently being heard in both houses of the General Assembly that
would create that standard, said state Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston.
That
bill would set efficiency standards for eight products that get
constant use, including ceiling fans, cable boxes, exit signs and
refrigerators.
The
new efficiency rules would save consumers an estimated $45 million by
2010, Handy said. The bill was heard last year but did not pass because
of opposition form cable-box manufacturers and Home Depot, he said.
"Adoption of this standard would be equal to taking 71,000 autos off the road by 2010," said Handy.
Adopting
a clean-cars standard would go a long way toward lowering ozone levels,
said Matt Auten, clean air associate at the Rhode Island Public
Interest Research Group.
Every
new car sold in the state will have to meet a tighter tailpipe emission
standard under the clean-cars standard, he said. The standard also puts
the burden on car makers to see to it that hybrid cars are sold in
state.
Hybrid
cars are already in high demand, with six-month waiting lists not
uncommon, said Paul Mika, owner of Toyota of Newport. He said it will
be over a year before supply catches up with the brisk demand for them.
Sales of hybrid cars are up by almost 72 percent this year over sales
of earlier models, he said.
In
addition to assigning the new eight-hour standard, the EPA is also
setting new limits on vehicle emissions and deadlines on when states
will have to meet those limits, Conroy said. The EPA is requiring that
states implement cleaner gasoline programs for new cars and
light-diesel vehicles, said Conroy. New limits on nitrous oxide
pollution from heavy-duty diesel vehicles will also be set by 2007,
Conroy said. The EPA will impose sanctions on Rhode Island if it
continues to violate the eight-hour standard after the 2010 deadline.
Those sanctions include withholding federal funds that would go toward highway construction and repair.
Edward
Ortiz has a fellowship with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and
Environmental Reporting. He can be reached at eortiz [at] projo.com
