Small-business groups are lining up behind congressional
attempts to delay implementation of the new ozone and particulate
matter (PM) air standards the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
signed in July. If enacted, the standards would force many counties
and cities to create clean-air programs, which would likely affect
all types of Main Street and shopping-mall businesses
nationwide.
Ringleaders of the effort to stall the standards say they're
fighting "an uphill battle," says Allen Schaeffer, vice
president of environmental affairs at the American Trucking
Association. Bills to delay implementation for four years have been
introduced in the House (H.R. 1984) by Reps. Ron Klink (D-PA) and
Fred Upton (R-MI), and in the Senate (S.1084) by Sens. John Breaux
(D-LA) and James Inhofe (R-OK). President Clinton would likely veto
the bills, arguing the standards would cut down on respiratory
illnesses and deaths. It is unlikely Congress could muster the
votes to override a veto.
The new standards would require states to develop state
implementation plans (SIPs) for reducing ozone and PM emissions in
nonattainment areas. The new ozone standard is .08 parts per
million (ppm), down from .12 ppm. But "exceedences" will
be declared only if a nonattainment area's average reading for
an eight-hour period is above .08 ppm rather than .12 ppm for any
one-hour period. The current PM restriction is on particles under
10 microns, called PM 10, a reference to the size of the dust or
water particles containing pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, and
volatile organic compounds. The EPA has created a new standard for
particles below 2.5 microns.
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The number of nonattainment areas would multiply under the new
standards. There are 106 ozone and 41 PM 10 nonattainment counties
based on 1993-95 data. The EPA has now increased its estimate of
the number of nonattainment areas to 546 ozone and 283 PM,
according to Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA), chairman of the House Commerce
Committee.
Jenny Noonan, an EPA policy analyst, says additional
nonattainment counties will be designated in 2000; states would
then have about three years to submit SIPs.
States are likely to use the same types of control strategies
for both ozone and particulate matter pollution: fuel or engine
restrictions; time of day or route driving restrictions; and
reduction of commercial development, to name a few.
Benjamin Cooper, senior vice president of the Printing
Industries of America trade association and chairman of the Small
Business Legislative Council, a lobbying group, believes some
small-business groups will be fighting against one another as
states begin to write SIPs. To achieve the lower levels,
nonattainment areas will have to go after sources whose emissions
they have typically ignored: those of small businesses. Counties
will then have to decide, for example, whether to force local
trucking companies to use reformulated fuel or require printers and
copy shops to use low-emission inks and adhesives.
The EPA's July proposal contained some concessions not
included in the original proposal. For example, the EPA would go
easy on counties that take steps to reduce exposure to ozone, even
if they didn't meet the new .08 ppm, eight-hour standard.
This may take some of the sting out of ozone control measures in
some areas. But that prospect won't stop small-business groups
from supporting the Klink and Breaux bills.
Stephen Barlas is a freelance business reporter who covers the
Washington beat for 15 magazines.
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