Smog begone

Friday, May 30, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

Stephen L. Johnson was right last summer when he said people are not being protected by the federal standard set for regulating smog.

Johnson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was right again when he called for a tougher standard.

But he missed a big opportunity when, in March, he set a new standard that was not as tough as it should have been.

Now several environmental organizations, the American Lung Association, 11 states, the District of Columbia, New York City and Pennsylvania’s environmental protection department have filed a federal lawsuit that asks for a ruling that would force the EPA to set a tougher standard.

Their concern is rooted in the fact that smog, created when emission pollutants bind together in the presence of sunlight, is either the cause or the aggravating factor in many people’s health problems.

Regulating the toxicity of smog is done by measuring how much ground-level ozone it contains. From 1997 to March, the federal standard for ozone molecules in smog was no more than 0.084 parts per million. Standards are enforced by governing emissions.

As the EPA worked on a more strict standard, motivated by the high rate of respiratory problems among children and adults in urban areas, it had three choices: Do nothing, as advocated by national business interests; choose a middling option, that of reducing the standard to 0.070 to 0.075 parts per million; or follow the recommendation of its Clean Air Science Advisory Committee and set the standard no higher than 0.070.

Johnson chose a standard of 0.075.

An attorney involved in the lawsuit told the Associated Press that the 1970 Clean Air Act “requires the EPA to adopt standards strong enough to protect our lungs and our environment.” He said the new EPA standard fails to do that.

We support the tougher standard recommended by the EPA’s advisory committee. People in our cities — who are getting sick now — cannot afford to wait while the government ever so gradually brings the standard to an acceptable level.