ILTA Submits Comments to EPA on Maintaining 2015 Ozone NAAQS

ILTA submitted comments to the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation expressing support for the agency’s proposal to retain the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone without change. The 2015 regulations set the lower primary and secondary ozone standards at 70 ppb, down from 75 ppb, to better safeguard public health with an adequate margin of safety. 

In August, EPA announced its intention to keep the 2015 standards at the end of its statutorily mandated five-year review period. After evaluating 1,600 “new available” studies, including about 1,000 health studies, and consulting with EPA’s independent Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler determined that the current standards adequately protect public health and welfare. 

 ILTA supported the standard, not only for its health safeguards but for the economic benefits as well