Obama to tighten restrictions on smog emissions

Coming full circle on a campaign promise, the Obama administration was poised yesterday to propose to reduce the amount of smog-forming pollution allowed in US air, which has been linked to asthma, lung damage and other health problems.

The stricter standard would makes good on a pledge President Barack Obama made during his first campaign for the White House and one of his first environmental actions as president: reversing a decision by President George W. Bush to set a limit weaker than scientists advised. In 2011, amid pressure from Republicans and industries, and facing a battle for re-election, Obama reneged on a plan by then-Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson to lower the permissible level to be more protective of public health.

The initial range of 60 to 70 parts per billion proposed by the EPA in January 2010 would make it one of the most expensive regulations ever issued, with an estimated US$19 billion to US$90 billion price tag and would have doubled the number of counties in violation. People familiar with the proposal said the agency would propose a preferred range of 65 to 70 parts per billion. The agency's scientific advisers had endorsed a standard of 60 parts per billion.

The agency will seek comment on 60 parts per billion and the current standard of 75 parts per billion put in place by Bush in 2008. The agency was under a court-ordered December 1 deadline to issue a new proposal.

"Seldom do presidents get an opportunity to right a wrong," Bill Becker, of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said.

The new standard caps a string of moves by Obama to improve air quality. The EPA has issued the first regulations ever to control heat-trapping carbon dioxide, mercury and air toxics from power plants. Obama has also doubled fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles, and clamped down on industrial pollution.