Reuters is reporting that:
Smog-reduction regulations proposed by the Bush administration in 2004 are too weak, a U.S. court ruled on Friday, sending the rules back to the Environmental Protection Agency for reworking. EPA's proposal to set an eight-hour standard for ozone emissions violates the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia court said in a 40-page ruling. The ruling came in response to a suit filed by environmental groups, a local California air regulator and several states who wanted more stringent limits on smog...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is not known as a "liberal" court, with 1 Carter apointee, 5 by Reagan, 2 by G.H.W. Bush, 3 by Clinton, and 3 by G.W. Bush. This is the same Appeals Court that produced Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, as well as Robert Bork and Kenneth Starr. So, for that court to smack down the E.P.A. with such a ruling, there must be obvious shortcomings and faults in the regulations.
The ruling says, "We vacate the 2004 Rule and remand the matter to EPA ... (the) EPA has failed to heed the restrictions on its discretion set forth (in the Clean Air Act)."
E.P.A. spokeswoman Jennifer Wood said the EPA will review the decision and decide whether to seek a rehearing, and the "EPA is committed to ensuring our nation's ozone air quality standards are implemented to protect public health and the environment."
Earthjustice attorney David Baron said, "This decision is a victory for clean air ... Health experts say we need stronger, not weaker limits on smog" and that the new standards actually weaken limits for new and expanded plants, and raises the threshold for triggering emission-reduction rules by a factor of four.
The original lawsuit was filed in response to the EPA's ruling that:
... in 2004 ordered counties that failed its standards to submit plans to reduce emissions from refineries, power plants and other industrial sources, and advanced a new test that measures ozone levels over an eight-hour period...
... 474 of the nation's 2,700 counties in 31 states have unacceptable levels of ground-level ozone, a major ingredient in unhealthy smog. About 159 million Americans live in counties that violate the new standards, the agency said when it issued the rule...
Ozone is a respiratory irritant that can cause uncomfortable symptoms and exascerbate respiratory problems such as emphysema and bronchitis. Ozone is created when unburned hydrocarbons, usually from automobiles and other fossil fuel sources, react with sunlight.
The fact that a "conservative leaning" court has limited the Bush administration's efforts to weaken standards defined in the NAAQS is good news for everyone, particularly those of us concerned about human health and the environment.