Air Quality Update

March 27, 2002

Court Clears Way for Ozone and Fine PM Standards
Commercial Vessels Considered Undercounted Source
Ozone in the Northeast--A Transport SIP?

Court Clears Way for Ozone and Fine PM Standards

Finding them neither arbitrary nor capricious, the country's stringent standards for ozone and fine particulate matter have been upheld by the courts. In a ruling yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cleared the way for the two air quality standards, now nearly five years old.

The unanimous decision also found that the agency did not exceed its authority in issuing the new limits for the pollutants in July 1997. The issue over EPA's authority had set the stage three years ago for the battle not only over the standards specifically, but also over constitutional law and the powers and responsibilities of Federal agencies.

The 3-to-0 decision supported EPA's plan to set a standard for the pollutants that the agency deemed necessary and sufficient to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. The court ruled that EPA weighed the available evidence, taking into account the scientific uncertainties that surround the body of knowledge associated with these pollutants. Despite the inability to identify a safe level of the pollutants or to calculate a precise risk at a given concentration, the court maintained that the agency still had the authority to set a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

A number of industry groups and states had challenged the standards shortly after their promulgation in 1997. The litigation grew into a major Supreme Court case that touched on the assessment of costs in setting health standards, the state of the science, and on the constitutional issues of administrative actions.

In another unanimous decision last year, the Supreme Court reversed an opinion form the D.C. Circuit that EPA did indeed overstep its regulatory authority, and went on to remand the case back to D.C. Yesterday's ruling now clears the way for implementation.

Implementation is still uncertain and remains an item in work with EPA regulators. Designation of new nonattainment areas for the two standards could follow, although no timetable has been agreed upon.

Reactions, as expected, were mixed from the various groups that kept a close vigil since early stages of development for these more stringent NAAQS. A spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute noted, "EPA tends to overstate health concerns," and also added "... the standards go further than they need to protect public health."

On the other side of the aisle, many of the country's environmental advocacy groups cheered the decision. The executive director of the Clean Air Trust summed it up as "... a huge victory for breathers."

Commercial Vessels Considered Undercounted Source

All but ignored in many areas, river traffic is considered a major source of air pollution according to a new study. A report published in the March 15 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, points to high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter, and sulfur dioxides from large commercial craft.

Around cities that are home to industrial river traffic, the NOx alone can equate to the emissions produced by a major freeway, according to Dr. James Corbett of the University of Delaware and the author of the study. Corbett's study is based on a detailed inventory of commercial traffic in the Northwest U.S. The focus of the study is on large vessels, and also the workhorses of U.S. rivers--tugboats and towboats--powered usually by lower grade diesel fuels.

The research develops a relationship among engine operations, modes of vessel movement, cargo tonnages, and trade data for the region. The study was commissioned to assess the potential contribution of marine emissions to haze conditions in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area that traverses both Oregon and Washington states.

The professor's previous work in this area included a national inventory two years ago that found commercial marine emissions approximately double what they had been estimated. Waterborne cargo in the U.S. accounts for nearly one-quarter of all commerce as measured by ton-miles.

Ozone in the Northeast--A Transport SIP?

Implementation of the eight-hour ozone standard should be better linked to upwind pollution. This is the baseline assumption of an attainment plan under development by the Northeast's Ozone Transport Commission (OTC).

The approach targeting downwind transport is a result of February's meeting in Baltimore between EPA and OTC officials. Characterized as "tense," the meeting left OTC member states feeling less than confident that EPA's ultimate implementation strategies will adequately factor in the impact of ozone and nitrogen oxides pollution transport.

EPA's early plans for implementation of the eight-hour ozone mark were briefed at a public meeting earlier this month in Alexandria, Virginia. Those remarks in addition to a host of options papers apparently have left OTC planners dissatisfied with the agency's accommodation of the transport question. The OTC states want to see a classification scheme that brings in areas that may not have an ambient air quality problem but may be contributing as a downwind generator--a more regional approach to sharing the attainment burden.