Breathing a sigh of relief in Oswego County

The scary news brought forward last week that Oswego County is included on a list of regions in which breathable air does not meet the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) revised Clean Air Act has proved to be somewhat of a misunderstanding, according to EPA officials.

The news and confusion came after a media release on March 12, which stated, "EPA today met its requirements of the Clean Air Act by signing the most stringent eight-hour standard ever for ozone, revising the standards for the first time in more than a decade. The agency based the changes on the most recent scientific evidence about the effects of ozone, the primary component of smog."

The new primary standard that was set by the EPA is 0.075 parts per million (ppm), with the new secondary standard set at a level and form exactly the same as the primary. Prior to last week's revision, these standards were both set at 0.08 ppm. Due to ozone being measured out to three decimal places, areas that registered at 0.084 ppm were rounded down and still considered as meeting the required standard.

According to County Administrator Phil Church, the confusion was due to the fact that the counties listed in the news release were not informed that the EPA stadards has been changed. Church explained that, in actuality, Oswego County is not projected to be on the lists of those whose air will not meet EPA standards.

"Oswego County is actually at 0.076 ppm, according to the data collected between 2004-06," Church said. "Because our rate is that low and continually improving, Oswego County is not on the projected lists moving forward, as they foresee the air here to continue improving."

U.S. EPA Public Outreach Branch Chief Mary Marion echoed these statements: "Since air quality is generally improving everywhere and Oswego was right on the very edge - 0.076 parts per million when the new standard is 0.075 ... it is possible that they will be meeting the standard when NY looks at the most recent data a year from now. The current standard is 0.084, which Oswego meets."

Church said that Oswego County was not on the list of counties in violation to the Clean Air Act from the EPA's 1997 study nor is it included in the current lists of counties that are projected to violate the act. "We were only on the one list because of that data collected between 2004-06 ... the air has not changed in Oswego County or suddenly got bad. The only difference at all is that the EPA changed the regulatory standard level," he said.

Again agreeing with Church, Marion added, "Air is not getting dirtier, the standard is getting more stringent."

While it does not appear that Oswego County will be in danger of not meeting the new standards, Marion explained that if standards were not met, responsibility would fall mainly on the state's shoulders. "Now that EPA has made it's final decision to tighten the standard for ground level ozone, a process plays out. First, NY state (NYSDEC) will recommend to EPA, based on the most recent data, which areas should be "designated" as either attaining or not alignment the new stringent standard," she continued. "Then, the state has two years to develop a plan to bring all of the areas that don't meet the standard into attainment with the standard by a certain date not yet determined for the specific areas - it depends on the severity of the problem (Los Angeles, for example, will have the longest because they have very extreme smog problems).

"The date by which any certain area must meet the standard will be somewhere between 2013 and 2030. Hence, it will be the state - not the county - that will have to develop a plan to meet the standard in every area of NY," Marion said.

Church felt it was unfortunate that the EPA's announcement caused a stir in the news when it could have been avoided had the same information been provided to the county.

Marion noted that she had not spoken with Oswego County officials regarding the issue, giving reasoning that under the circumstances, it was not necessary. "No response to this is required ... I am sure they will reach out to the NYSDEC as they develop the recommendations for "designating" areas as attaining or not attaining the new, more stringent 0.075 standard, and if necessary they might want to have input into the NYSDEC's overall plan to bring all of NY into alignment with the new standard."