Delay in new federal air pollution rules could benefit Augusta

Augusta and Columbia County will have two more years to develop strategies to comply with a stricter U.S. Clean Air Act.

Advertisement

Under the current standard for ground-level ozone, Richmond County and portions of Aiken County might already face unwanted “non-attainment” designations, which could trigger restrictions on industrial permits and transportation funding.

Columbia County meets the current standard, but all three counties are at risk of failing a more stringent one that was to be announced last week by the Environmental Protection Agency.

After a request by President Obama, however, the EPA postponed the new rules until 2013 after industry lobbyists argued that compliance would cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

The reprieve means the Bush administration’s more-lenient ozone standard of 75 parts per billion over an eight-hour average will remain in effect, as opposed to a new standard expected to be set between 60 and 70 parts per billion.

Ozone, or smog, contributes to a variety of ailments, including heart problems, asthma and other lung disorders.

Augusta-Richmond County Planning Director Paul DeCamp, who is also a member of the CSRA Air Quality Alliance, said the delay will give local governments more time to work on programs to improve regional air quality.

“This is a beneficial development for the Augusta area because, in recent years, area ozone levels have been in compliance with (below) the 2008 standard,” he said, adding that the levels used to determine compliance are based on three-year averages.

Columbia County officials also say the extra time is welcome.

“The assumption, of course, is that everybody would use that extra time to make improvements,” said Don Bartles, the county’s environmental services manager. “But make no mistake about it: Unless some new science turns up that says otherwise, the standards are going to get stricter.”

Programs already in effect in local counties include a May-October burn ban to reduce emissions during the hottest, ozone-prone months, and technology to synchronize traffic signals to reduce engine idling and improve the flow of vehicles.

Other programs under study include park-and-ride carpool opportunities, education programs to compel corporations to adopt fleetwide idle reduction policies, and efforts to persuade residents to exchange gas lawn mowers for electric ones.

DeCamp said that the delay in adopting stricter standards doesn’t mean communities should postpone programs to promote cleaner air.

“It is important that area residents and businesses continue to take proactive steps to improve air quality because of the beneficial health effects of cleaner air and because the ozone standard could still be tightened when it is reconsidered in 2013,” he said.