CONTACT: William Omohundro, (312) 353-8254
For Immediate Release No. 04-OPA039
CHICAGO, April 15, 2004

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said today that 33 Ohio counties do not meet the new 8-hour, health-based outdoor air quality standard for ground-level ozone. The counties are: Stark, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Warren, Clinton, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Summit, Delaware, Franklin, Licking, Fairfield, Madison, Knox, Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Jefferson, Lucas, Wood, Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Belmont, Allen and Washington.

In a letter to Governor Bob Taft, EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said, "These ozone standards are strong medicine. As a former Governor of Utah, I recognize that having parts of your state designated as being in nonattainment will require more actions on your part to achieve cleaner, healthier air. We need to work together to make certain your state can, as other have in the past, clean the air while sustaining economic growth."

"The good news here is that the air is getting cleaner," said Acting Regional Administrator Bharat Mathur. "We've made a lot of progress over the last 30-plus years. Now, to pick up the pace of environmental progress, we've raised the bar with this new tougher standard."

These counties, called nonattainment areas, have (or contribute to) ozone levels higher than allowed under EPA's 8-hour ozone national air quality standard. The standard is designed to protect the public from exposure to ground-level ozone. Ozone is unhealthy to breathe especially for people with respiratory diseases, and for children and adults who are active outdoors. By law, nonattainment areas may be subject to certain requirements to reduce ozone-forming pollution.

Ground-level ozone forms when emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds "cook" in the sun. Sources of these pollutants include cars and trucks, power plants, refineries and other large industrial facilities, and some natural sources.

Breathing ozone can irritate air passages, reduce lung function, aggravate asthma, and inflame and damage the cells lining the lungs. It also may aggravate chronic lung diseases like emphysema and bronchitis, may reduce the immune system's ability to fight off bacterial infections in the respiratory system and cause permanent lung damage.

EPA issued the 8-hour ozone standard in July 1997, based on information demonstrating the 1-hour standard was inadequate for protecting public health. Scientific information shows that ozone can affect human health at lower levels, and over longer exposure times than one hour.

Deadlines for meeting the 8-hour ozone standard range from 2009 to 2010, depending on the severity of an area's ozone problem. The 8-hour ozone standard is 0.08 parts per million (ppm) averaged over eight hours. The 1-hour standard is 0.12 ppm, measured in hourly readings. For more information, including a listing of all designations, go to: www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations.

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