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ONE-HOUR SMOG STANDARD REINSTATED TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH
Release Date: 07/06/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2000
ONE-HOUR SMOG STANDARD REINSTATED TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH
To ensure that the American public receives continued health protection from ground-level ozone (smog) pollution, EPA today took final procedural action to officially reinstate its old “one-hour” standard, completing an action it proposed last fall. The reinstatement creates a safety net for nearly 3,000 counties across the country, while EPA awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision on its new, tougher eight-hour standard. In a May 1999 split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the eight-hour standard, which EPA had first issued in 1997. EPA appealed the May 1999 decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed last month to hear the case. Prior to the Appeals Court ruling, EPA had revoked the one-hour standard in 2,942 counties that could prove they had clean air for three consecutive years; this was done to help smooth the transition to the new eight-hour limit. Today’s reinstatement won’t require any action by most of these counties. The final action will appear soon in the Federal Register, but is available now at: https://www.epa.gov/airlinks. For further technical information, call Tom Helms 919-541-5527 or Jeff Clark 919-541-5557 at EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
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