By Judy Sheahan
September 19, 2011

President Barack Obama, on September 2, directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw the proposed rules to limit ground-level ozone emissions. Ground-level ozone is formed when emissions from power plants, industries, vehicles and landfills react to sunlight and form smog. Smog can create and aggravate asthma and heart disease. Over 345 counties throughout the United States would have been impacted by the new regulation.

The Conference of Mayors adopted policy at the Baltimore Annual Meeting expressing concern that the new standards would have a devastating economic impact including limiting new business development and a potential loss of federal highway funds. The resolution stated that the Conference “supports a health-protective, risk-based (ozone) standard that is supported by sound science” and asked Congress to provide appropriations to mitigate the economic impacts imposed by this regulation and accelerate the introduction of cleaner technologies to help communities reach attainment.

In a statement President Obama said, “Ultimately, I did not support asking state and local governments to begin implementing a new standard that will soon be reconsidered.”

The federal government typically reviews standards every five years with the Bush Administration setting the primary standards at 75 parts per billion in 2008. New standards were originally scheduled to be released in 2013. However, in January of 2010, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said that she would set a standard between 60-70 parts per billion due to the recommendations made by EPA’s scientific advisory committee at the time. EPA estimated that the health benefits of their proposal would be worth $13-$100 billion while the cost to industry would have been $19-$90 billion annually.