EPA should consider air changes carefully

It would be easy to cheer the Obama administration's proposed tougher smog standards, especially after several days in which the air along the Wasatch Front was thick enough to cut. But the new rules proposed last week could have serious implications in a region where officials have struggled to comply with the old standards.

Don't be surprised to find yourself facing restrictions in the future that limit Utahns to driving only on even or odd days when pollution is particularly bad, and don't be surprised if major industries are required to spend much more money than they already have to cut their emissions.

And even that might not do the trick. The Wasatch Front has some unfortunate geographic characteristics that encourage inversions and lead to unhealthy conditions. This is especially true in the winter, but it also occurs occasionally on extremely hot and stagnant summer days. This has been the case virtually since the days when pioneers first settled the area. It is true also for Cache Valley, which occasionally suffers from extreme fog, despite having a relatively small population.

The Environmental Protection Agency already has designated several areas of Utah as "nonattainment zones," meaning they violated the old standards. The current standard, set by the Bush administration, is for no more than 75 parts per billion of ozone in the air during any eight-hour period. The EPA's proposed new standard would reduce that to somewhere between 60 and 70 ppb. A 60-day public comment period will be held before the EPA adopts its official new standard.

Utah officials have complained in the past that it is unfair to lump the Wasatch Front with other metro areas that have persistent smog problems. Utah's problems are cyclical and are mostly determined by meteorological conditions. During the rest of the time, the air is clear. The state meets federal standards far more frequently than it violates them. But when it violates them, conditions are especially miserable.

There is no doubt that smog contributes to health problems. It can lead to asthma in young children and exacerbate other health conditions. Recently, Dr. Brian Moench, president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said exercising on a bad inversion day in Utah is similar to exercising while smoking a pack of cigarettes. On such days, everyone has an obligation to avoid adding to the problem.

But federal regulators also need to carefully consider the impact their decisions will have on the economy, especially at a time when the nation is struggling through a recession. The new standards could affect everything from airplanes and automobiles to gas-powered lawn mowers. Reuters said implementing the new rules could cost industry up to $90 billion.

In particular, coal-burning power plants would be affected, and that could have serious consequences for the price and availability of energy in a nation that seems to be expanding its array of electrical gadgets by the minute.

Sixty days is too short a period to consider such a huge change.