Policy: EPA's ground-level Ozone standard Redux.

摘要

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking another crack at setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone, which EPA administrator Lisa Jackson says is "one of the most persistent and widespread pollutants we face." In March 2008, the agency revised the standards for the first time in 11 years, far longer than the 5-year interval stipulated in the Clean Air Act. This time, the interval is far shorter, and many industry and state officials are legally challenging the EPA's authority to reconsider the standard so quickly. But in announcing the proposed rule making, the agency contended it's authorized to do so because the 2008 standards aren't grounded in science and don't sufficiently protect public health or the environment, as required by the Clean Air Act.