More state counties won't meet EPA limits

More state counties won't meet EPA limits

By ANNE PAINE
Staff Writer

Ozone levels too high in 9 areas, 4 in Midstate

Cheatham, Robertson, Dickson and Montgomery counties have been added to a list of those in Middle Tennessee that the EPA says could be designated as not meeting the Clean Air Act because of high levels of ozone, a lung irritant.

At stake in the designation are a county's ability to build new roads with federal funds or expand existing ones, as well as to recruit new industry.

The EPA also announced plans yesterday that basically will put into effect the Bush administration's controversial Clear Skies Initiative through rule-making, avoiding sending the changes through Congress.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., was among clean air advocates lashing out at this second announcement.

"The bad news is that this new Clear Skies rule still does not go far enough, fast enough to control the particulate matter, or soot, produced by coal-fired power plants," he said. "In 2006 Tennessee counties will be required also to be in compliance with federal standards for soot. At least half this soot is produced outside Tennessee."

He said he has co-sponsored "the Carper Bill, which goes farther, faster than the president's clean air proposals," setting tougher standards for polluters nationwide.

"I do not see how Tennessee counties will be able to come into compliance with the federal clean air laws unless there are tough federal standards on polluters outside Tennessee as well as inside," he said.

On the issue of ozone, Gov. Phil Bredesen had named 18 counties, including Davidson, as likely to be out of compliance by the 2007 deadline. These

counties have been working in early action compacts to find ways to reduce air pollution, which could allow them an extension.

After reviewing the state's recommendations, the EPA yesterday added nine more counties across the state. Several of them, including Cheatham, Robertson and Dickson, are taking part in a compact. Montgomery is not, and the deadline has passed in which to do so.

Middle Tennessee counties that were on the list include Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson Wilson and Davidson.

"This will start a process, a 120-day consultation period, for the state and EPA to discuss those recommendations," said Tracy Carter, legal services director for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

"It's not a done deal."

The EPA will make its final designation of counties this spring, she said.

The 27 counties include the state's five largest metropolitan areas, where most Tennesseans live.

"We should take these designations seriously," Alexander said yesterday. "Ozone, which is the smog Los Angeles is famous for, is damaging to our health."

The EPA added the counties, in part, because they are in metropolitan statistical areas where an air pollution monitor has showed high ozone. Cheatham County, for instance, doesn't have an ozone monitor but is in the Nashville MSA, which has had high readings.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy supports the EPA's expanded list. As to the other EPA decision, Executive Director Stephen Smith applauded Alexander's comments.

"This is really bad news," he said. "It's another example of how the administration is trying to do an end run on the will of the people. He (President Bush) knows his initiative is unpopular and he can't get it through elected representatives of the people. What he's doing is compromising public health."