dan’s outside

The same process that derailed the California greenhouse gas automotive regulations seems to be at work here.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced a modest tightening of the smog standard on Wednesday evening, overruling the unanimous advice of its scientific advisory council for a more protective standard.

The standard, stated in terms of average concentrations of ozone at ground level over an eight-hour period, is now 84 parts per billion. Mr. Johnson’s decision, if it survives court review, would lower that to 75, although implementation could be decades away. Late last year a scientific advisory panel recommended 60 to 70 parts per billion.

(From a New York Times article.)