New EPA Ozone Standard Is Met With Some Disapproval In Wisconsin

A Wisconsin business association is among the groups and officials criticizing a new federal standard that aims to curb ozone pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that the national limit on ozone will be cut from 75 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion. The regulation targets harmful ground-level ozone, a major component of smog that forms when emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities react chemically in the presence of sunlight.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce said the new standard will place many areas of the state in a no-grow zone for manufacturing jobs and hit consumers with higher energy costs.

Meanwhile, environmental and health groups have also expressed disappointment with the rule, albeit for different reasons: They say the new standard should have been made 60 parts per billion.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is defending her decision. “I did not base it on a popularity contest. This is about doing what the science says and the law,” she said.

McCarthy said counties won’t listed as being a non-attainment area under the new ozone regulation until at least 2017.