EPA sets stricter standard for ozone
By Amy Harder, Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—Environmental regulators significantly lowered a national limit for a smog-causing pollutant Thursday, in an attempted compromise that left some businesses relieved and environmental and health leaders upset the initiative wasn’t stronger.
The Environmental Protection Agency set a limit of 70 parts per billion for ground-level ozone, which is created by emissions released into the air by manufacturing plants, utilities and vehicles, down from the current level of 75 parts per billion. In a draft released in 2014, the agency proposed a standard between 65 and 70 parts per billion.
Still, the move prompted criticism from business executives who didn’t want the EPA to change the limit at all, and from environmental and health groups that said it wasn’t tough enough.