COLUMBUS Ohio faces tougher pollution sanctions

The original list for ozone violators did not contain Columbiana County.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
COLUMBUS -- Thirty-three Ohio counties, including Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana, exceed new federal ozone limits and could face tough air pollution sanctions.
State environmental regulators submitted the list of counties to the federal government Tuesday. It was the first step in a years-long process that could lead to further regulation of polluting industries.
The counties where the state's major cities are located and many counties surrounding those cities are included in the list.
An Ohio Environmental Protection Agency draft list announced earlier this year did not contain Columbiana County. However, after taking public comments in May and June, the agency added Columbiana County to the list and dropped Pickaway County.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must develop final designations of counties not meeting the standard by April 2004.
Reducing pollution
The state then has three years to develop a plan for reducing pollution in those areas, said Ohio EPA spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer.
That could include reducing emissions from power plants, large industrial boilers and vehicles, she said.
It won't be until 2007 at the earliest before the Valley would be required to take steps to reduce pollution, said James Wells, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments' director of special projects.
Among the possible changes are e-checks to determine car emissions, and reformulated gasoline, both which will cost consumers money, he said.
"But the EPA hasn't determined what measures are needed to get areas into compliance," Wells said. "We'll have to look at a lot of things."
Business groups will lobby for a plan that focuses on reducing vehicle emissions rather than further regulation of industry, said Linda Woggon, vice president for governmental affairs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
By reducing car pollution, "you get very large reductions in emissions with relatively little investment," Woggon said Tuesday. "On the other hand, if you try and impose greater regulation on stationary sources like your big manufacturers, it's much more expensive for fewer reduction."
But the Ohio Environmental Council said the real source of pollution is power plants and large vehicles with diesel engines such as heavy trucks, buses and farm equipment.
Cars are also a major source of pollution, but car makers have gone farther in reducing vehicle emissions, said Kurt Waltzer of the OEC.
Ongoing process
Tuesday's announcement followed the U.S. EPA's decision in November to resume asking states to submit a list of counties that would not be able to meet the requirement for limiting ozone, a major component of smog.
The U.S. EPA decision came in a proposed court settlement with environmental groups.
The Clinton administration had begun that process, but industry groups brought it to a halt by challenging the new ozone standard all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld the new standard in February 2001.
The 1997 standard limited ozone to 0.08 parts per million, instead of 0.12 parts per million, a standard issued in 1979. It also required averaging measurements of the pollution over eight hours, instead of one hour, to better reflect actual air quality.
The Valley's ozone level was about 0.09 parts per million, Wells said. The Valley has been in compliance with ozone standards since 1990, he said. The Valley probably wouldn't have violated the old standard, he said.
Ozone levels in the Valley are checked at the Renaissance Center in Youngstown, the Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer's Office in Vienna and Kinsman Township Hall.