Plan to clean air rejected - Blount, area do not meet EPA standards

Plan to clean air rejected - Blount,

area do not meet EPA standards

2004-04-16
by Thomas Fraser
of The Daily Times Staff

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday officially designated Blount County and surrounding counties in nonattainment of the federal ozone standard.

The announcement marks the failure of an attempt to postpone nonattainment through an Early Action Compact (EAC) among Blount, Knox, Anderson, Sevier, Jefferson, Loudon and Cocke counties.

Despite efforts between the seven counties to formulate their own approach to reducing average eight-hour ozone pollution to 84 parts per billion by 2007, the local EAC was rejected by the federal agency. A total of 18 counties in Tennessee were designated as nonattainment.

Of the original 33 EAC areas nationwide, only three -- all in Tennessee -- did not meet their requirements. As a result, Knoxville (including Blount), Chattanooga and Memphis are no longer included in the EAC program.

Blount County Assistant Mayor David Bennett said he was "very disappointed" in Thursday's decision, but the county will continue to pursue its plans to reduce ozone pollution as outlined in the proposals rejected by the EPA.

"We're going to continue to work with those folks to do what we can to make the air cleaner," he said.

"The reason ours was thrown out was because we could not show the steps we were going to take would reduce ozone to acceptable levels" by 2007, he said. Plans included emissions testing, anti-idling ordinances and open burning bans.

Two of the five Early Action Compacts in the state satisfied the EPA. An EAC for the Nashville area was allowed to stay in place, and therefore postponed nonattainment designation for the Nashville area. The Tri-Cities EAC was also allowed to remain in place.

"We're disappointed that three of the EACs in Tennessee were denied," said Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commission Betsy Child.

"However, we are going to work hard with the affected communities and with the federal government to aggressively address these issues," Child said.

Bennett said he was uncertain the immediate sanctions associated with the designation, but they could ultimately include restricted access to federal highway dollars for projects that could worsen air quality, as well as more stringent standards for permitting additional industrial emissions.

"I don't know the extent, exactly, at this point," he said.

In a press release announcing the nonattainment designations, EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said severe sanctions are levied only in rare circumstances and in the face of inaction to reduce local sources of ozone pollution.

Region 4 Environmental Protection Agency officials were not immediately available for comment.

The state will likely take a leading role in assisting counties designated as nonattainment.

"We're going to get into attainment some way. I can't tell you today how we'll do that," Bennett said.

Ozone in the Smokies

He indicated it will be a very difficult task, given the Smoky Mountains' tendency to trap and concentrate ozone from outside the area. Ozone is formed when nitrogen oxide emitted from tailpipes and fossil fuel plants combines with other pollutants in the presence of sunlight.

Ozone is a lung irritant, and when ozone levels exceed the federal health standard, typically on summer days, those with existing respiratory diseases, children and the elderly are urged to avoid strenuous outdoor activity.

"We're going to have to have some help" to achieve the reductions, "because we can't control what Arkansas is doing, what Atlanta is doing," Bennett said.

Valerie True, clean air program coordinator for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said the Knoxville metropolitan area should not have been allowed to enter into an Early Action Compact in the first place.

``The program was designed for areas slightly out of attainment,'' True said. It was unreasonable to place the burden of substantially reducing ozone on the shoulders of local and state officials.

True said modeling showed that the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area's eight-hour ozone averages ranged from 91 parts per billion to 86 parts per billion.

The new deadline for the area to come into attainment is 2009.

``If they do not meet this deadline they will go into a higher classification of nonattainment and the control measures will become stricter,'' she said.

Ruling's silver lining

There is a silver lining to Thursday's EPA ruling, True said.

We should be getting cleaner air as a result of this,'' True said.There won't be so many ozone days,'' she said, such as those days when Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials warn visitors to refrain from strenuous outdoor activity.

Bennett said that current trends suggest air quality is improving even without stringent ozone reduction measures.

``We have cleaner air than we used to,'' he said.

In 2001, the highest eight-hour average at Look Rock was 96 parts per billion. In 2002, that dropped to 94 parts per billion. Last year, the average was 93 parts per billion.

Bennett conceded that could be a result of moderating summer temperatures and other weather factors, but suggested a reason for the downward trend could lie in ongoing nitrogen oxide emissions reductions at Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plants.

Low-elevation ozone monitors showed even greater declines, he said.

Alexander statement

Bennett's call for a national or regional solution to East Tennessee air quality was echoed by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in a statement released Thursday:

"This shows the seriousness of the clean air challenge that Tennesseans face. That is why I'm supporting stronger national clean air legislation," Alexander said.

"We need to go farther, faster to clean up the air than what the (Bush) administration is proposing.

"Without help from a stronger federal law, I don't see any way for the citizens of Knoxville, Chattanooga or Memphis to clean the air enough to come into compliance," Alexander said.

Sen. Bill Frist also issued a statement on the matter:

"Clearly more must be done to address pollution, and I'll continue to work with federal, state, and local government to address these issues," Frist said.