EPA Restarts Ozone Rulemaking, Delaying Critical Updates to Air Quality Standards

Washington, D.C. – Today, EPA announced it will abandon its ongoing reconsideration of the current underprotective air quality standards for ozone, a key component of smog, and instead restart the rulemaking process, substantially delaying critical public health protections for communities across the country. 

Under the Trump Administration, EPA completed a rushed review of the health-based air quality standards for ground-level ozone in December 2020, failing to lower the standard from 70 parts per billion (ppb) despite scientific and health data demonstrating a 70 ppb standard is not protective of public health. When President Biden took office, he announced that EPA would reconsider the standard. 

In June 2023, an overwhelming majority of scientific experts on EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) affirmed the 70 ppb standard is underprotective, recommending that to protect public health, the primary standard should be substantially strengthened to a range of 55-60 ppb, based on evidence readily available to EPA. Shortly after, the White House Environmental Justice Council (WHEJAC) issued a similar recommendation, noting the disproportionate impacts of ozone pollution on low-income communities and communities of color.

By electing to restart the rulemaking process rather than finalizing its current reconsideration, EPA will now need to complete a new science assessment, new health and welfare risk exposure assessments, and a new policy assessment before issuing a proposal to update the ozone standards, a process that has historically taken EPA years to complete. 

Ground-level ozone is a harmful pollutant that causes a wide range of adverse health impacts ranging from asthma attacks to premature mortality. Children, whose lungs are still developing, are particularly vulnerable to elevated concentrations of ozone. 

In response, Sierra Club Senior Attorney Josh Berman released the following statement:

“Today’s decision does a disservice to the more than 119 million people living in communities with high levels of ozone, needlessly prolonging the time they will be subjected to outdated and underprotective smog standards. How many more asthma attacks and hospitalizations must occur before EPA will heed the clarion call from CASAC and WHEJAC and establish a more protective standard? EPA has all the evidence required to strengthen the ozone standards. EPA must end the delays, follow the science, and strengthen critical ozone protections now.”