Smog Limits Could Affect 5 Counties

Jun 22, 03:02 AM

Current Headlines: By Dion Lefler, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Jun. 22--Five Kansas counties, including Sedgwick County, could face tougher smog controls under new regulations proposed Thursday by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

In Washington, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson outlined a proposal to reduce the allowable level of ozone pollution in the air to between 70 and 75 parts per billion.

The current standard is 80 parts per billion, although with rounding, ozone levels can range as high as 84 and still comply, an EPA spokesman said.

If the change were made now, Johnson County, at 76 parts per billion, would not meet the proposed ozone standard, said John Millett of the EPA in Washington.

If the standard were lowered to 70 parts per billion, Sedgwick, Douglas, Linn and Wyandotte counties would be out of compliance.

Sedgwick County's average level -- measured during warmer months, the peak period for ozone-causing pollutants -- is 74 parts per billion, Millett said.

Kay Johnson, director of Wichita's Environmental Services division, said the region's air pollution is a mix of locally generated smog and pollution that blows north from the Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma City areas.

She said the county has been able to comply with ozone limits largely because of voluntary emission reductions by businesses.

Getting to the level proposed by the EPA, she said, would mean reducing auto emissions as well.

"It's going to take the whole community if we're going to get to the 70-parts-per-billion level," she said.

When the EPA declares a county out of compliance, it usually applies to the surrounding metropolitan area, so Harvey, Butler and other counties could be at risk of falling out of compliance if Sedgwick does, she said.

The Kansas City area reached 80 parts per billion on June 15, said Joe Blubaugh of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Power plants in the metropolitan area are already being required to reduce ozone-causing emissions, he said.

In addition, a voluntary campaign is planned to encourage drivers to fill up their cars after 7 p.m. to reduce daytime emissions of gasoline fumes.

When exposed to sunlight, volatile organic compounds in the gas fumes react with nitrogen oxide -- produced by car exhaust, power plants and other industrial sources -- to form smog, he said.

In the upper atmosphere, ozone absorbs ultraviolet rays that cause sunburn and skin cancer.

But at ground level, ozone is a respiratory irritant that can cause chest pain, coughing, throat irritation and nasal congestion. It also can worsen bronchitis, asthma and emphysema.

The proposed reduction in ground-level ozone standards is the result of 1,700 studies in the 10 years since the current standards were set, Millett said.

Those studies show there are "significant respiratory effects on healthy people" at the current standards, he said.

According to EPA estimates, reducing ozone levels could reduce breathing problems among children by as much as 90 percent, he said.

If the Kansas counties do go out compliance, methods to bring ozone down could include mandatory emission checks and maintenance requirements for vehicles, use of emission-reducing fuel blends, and pollution controls on industrial sources, Millett said.

However, some or all of the Kansas counties may be able to avoid additional smog controls by the time new regulations take effect in 2010, he said.

By then, some industries -- primarily utilities -- will already have had to reduce smog-causing emissions under other federal regulations, he said.

In addition, a lot of older cars on the road today will have been replaced by models that are as much as 90 percent cleaner, he said.

"It's very possible Sedgwick County could improve to the point of being out of the woods," Millett said.

Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527.

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