WASHINGTON (April 22, 2010)—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rewrite of the 2008 ozone standards are inappropriate, ineffective and unduly expensive, the Rubber Manufacturers Association told the agency.
The ozone proposal to reconsider existing National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone could cost U.S. business as much as $90 billion, the RMA said in comments to the EPA docket.
“EPA's decision to revise the NAAQS for ground level ozone cuts short the process for revising the NAAQS established in the Clean Air Act,” the association said. The Clean Air Act process for reviewing NAAQS takes five years, it said, not the 18 months the Obama administration took to rewrite Bush administration rules.
Scientific evidence shows no justification for a new ozone standard, the RMA added. The EPA simply did not establish clear adverse health effects in clinical trials from exposure to ozone in concentrations below 0.075 parts per million, the association said. Revising the 2008 standards will result in less improvement to ground level ozone and increased burdens on state and local agencies, it said.
“EPA's decision to revise the 2008 ozone standards to a more stringent limit of 0.060-0.070 ppm will, under the circumstances, impede rather than improve health protection measures,” the RMA said.