EPA considers stricter smog regulations

Five advocacy groups Wednesday urged the Environmental Protection Agency to approve stricter standards that govern ozone emissions.

At a press conference in Atlanta, Frank O’Donnell — president of the Washington, D.C.-based Clean Air Watch — used an analogy that a doctor told him: “Breathing ozone is like rubbing sandpaper on the lungs.”

The EPA held a 12-hour public hearing at the Atlanta Federal Center Wednesday, allowing residents a chance to weigh in on the agency’s proposed changes to the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone — otherwise known as smog.

The current standard, 0.08 to 0.084 parts per million, was enacted in 1997, and the agency is proposing a stricter range of 0.07-0.075 ppm, a change being met with opposition by industries usually considered the most egregious of violators.

Ozone poses a significant health risk, causing shortness of breath, chest pain and exacerbation of asthma, among other maladies. It can even lead to premature death.

Paula Eggers, a Marietta resident and advocate for asthmatic children, displayed the six medications and nebulizer her 12-year-old son Matt takes and uses when his condition becomes agitated. On days the smog level is high he cannot go outside, she said, because “Matt has asthma and we live in Atlanta.”