Evaluation of Various Alternative Ambient Ozone Standards Based on Crop Yield Loss Data

摘要

Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency establishes primary and secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQSs) to protect public health and welfare from known or anticipated adverse effects from criteria air pollutants. The objectives of the paper are to discuss the issues of setting a secondary NAAQS of O3 by (1) reviewing several potential forms for a secondary standard, (2) evaluating the consequences of selecting various levels for the standard, and (3) illustrating the spatial and temporal variation in crop yield loss at current O3 levels.