Missouri DNR seeks to join suit against new ozone standards

The DNR expects the stricter federal standards to place Kansas City in nonattainment status – which means it is violating ozone regulations – and make it more difficult for St. Louis to reach attainment status, as well as place other Missouri cities and counties in danger of being placed in nonattainment status, according to a DNR news release.

“No one disputes the importance of maintaining good air quality for the health of Missourians,” DNR Director Doyle Childers said in the release. “We believe the new federal regulation will place thousands of Missouri jobs at risk, jeopardizing income for Missouri families, and will result in unwarranted and burdensome regulations on industry.”

The new regulation changes the eight-hour primary ozone standard to 0.075 parts per million, compared to the previous 0.084-ppm standard set in 1997, according to the EPA Web site, www.epa.gov. It also makes the secondary eight-hour ozone standard 0.075 ppm. The EPA says the changes were enacted to “improve both public health protection and the protection of sensitive trees and plants,” and should yield health benefits valued between $2 billion and $17 billion, according to the site.

The Missouri DNR, however, says the previous standards have had positive effects nationwide, and the new restriction does not consider ozone’s mobile nature and only addresses manmade ozone, not biogenic ozone that occurs naturally, the release said.[[In-content Ad]]