Gov. Pence fighting EPA tightening of air pollution rules

WASHINGTON – Gov. Mike Pence is pushing back against the federal government's proposed tightening of rules on smog-forming pollution, despite the fact that nearly all Indiana counties are expected to be able to meet the tougher standard.

The Indiana Republican joined 10 other GOP governors Monday in asking the Environmental Protection Agency to stick with the current rules.

The governors said in a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy that they're acting as the "chief protectors of our states' economies" and believe the rules would be "job crushing."

"Once again, the EPA continues its relentless pursuit of harmful federal regulation," Pence said in a statement.

Jodi Perras, the Indiana representative for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, said clean air standards protect Hoosiers' health, a fact that Pence and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have "continually chosen to ignore."

Acting under a court-ordered deadline to issue new rules, the EPA proposed in November that smog be limited to within a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion. The current standard, set in 2008 under President George W. Bush, is 75 parts per billion.

Although as many as 25 of Indiana's 92 counties would have trouble meeting the tighter standards if they went into effect immediately, most areas would have until 2025 to comply, and pollution is on the decline.

"If values continue to decrease as we expect, Indiana should be in good shape," IDEM spokesman Dan Goldblatt said in November.

The EPA estimates that only Greene and LaPorte counties would have to take additional steps — beyond reductions that are already expected to come from existing rules on vehicles, power plants and other industries — to meet a 65 parts-per-billion standard by 2025.

But if advocates can persuade the EPA to lower the standard to 60 parts per billion, seven additional counties — all in Southern Indiana — would have to figure out how to comply. Four other counties, including Marion, would be right on the cusp of having too much pollution.

Counties with too much pollution face restrictions on business activities until ozone levels are reduced. Any emitter that wants to exceed standards must find an offsetting source.

Pence said that turns economic development into a "zero sum game."

IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly, in comments submitted to the EPA, wrote that few health studies published since the standards were last updated in 2008 show "compelling evidence" of significant health benefits from tighter rules.

Although ozone concentrations have significantly declined in Indiana since 2000, asthma rates have gone up, he said.

"This inverse correlation between decreasing ozone and increasing rates of asthma indicates that the assumed link between ozone and asthma may not be as strong as is currently believed," Easterly wrote.

The American Lung Association argues that thousands of peer-reviewed medical studies show that breathing ozone pollution is dangerous, and that harm is occurring at levels far below what is currently considered safe.

Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight interacts with pollutants from tailpipes, power plants, factories and other sources.

Ozone has been linked to premature deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular problems and can cause or aggravate asthma and other lung diseases.

The EPA is accepting comments about the issue until Tuesday, with a decision expected later this year.

Email Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.