Committee Democrats Support Strengthening the Ozone Standard to Protect Public Health
(Washington, DC) – Today the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing to “examine the scientific and technological achievability” of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone.” Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to set the primary standard for ozone at a level requisite to protect public health within an adequate margin of safety. EPA is prohibited from considering cost or technical feasibility when establishing an ozone standard.
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposed new standard for ozone, the pollutant that causes smog. The proposal would lower the current standard of 75 parts per billion to a standard in the range of 65-70 parts per billion, while taking public comment on a level as low as 60. According to the EPA analysis, “strengthening the standard to a range of 65 to 70 ppb will provide significantly better protection for children, preventing from 320,000 to 960,000 asthma attacks and from 330,000 to 1 million missed school days. Strengthening the standard to a range of 70 to 65 ppb would better protect both children and adults by preventing more than 750 to 4,300 premature deaths; 1,400 to 4,300 asthma-related emergency room visits; and 65,000 to 180,000 missed workdays.”
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said in her opening statement, “It’s clear that air quality-related illnesses have a very real and destructive effect on the economy – on the order of hundreds of billions of dollars annually - and the benefits of reducing those effects will be seen throughout the country. Despite that, some will argue that EPA’s proposed standard will kill jobs, decimate the industrial base, and result in irreparable economic disruption. This is not a new story. It’s what’s been said for decades about every major environmental and consumer protection--from catalytic converters to scrubbers to seatbelts. We all know that none of those predictions have come true. In fact, there is much more evidence showing that on balance, jobs are created and the economy expands following the passage of major reforms.”
Dr. Mary B. Rice, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, testifying as a representative of the American Thoracic Society, said, “There is abundant and consistent scientific evidence demonstrating that ozone pollution – at levels permitted by the current standard – is damaging to the human lungs and contributes to illness and death. Ozone is particularly harmful to certain people, including babies, children and adults with asthma, people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the elderly. The EPA and the Administration both have the authority and the obligation to establish a more protective ozone standard. The American Thoracic Society strongly urges EPA and the Administration to finalize a more protective ozone standard of 60 ppb.”
Congresswoman Johnson said, “A strong economy and a healthy environment are not mutually exclusive. The Clean Air Science Advisory Committee recommends lowering the ozone standard, and I think we should listen to our scientists. We can and must do better for current and future generations.”
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