THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020082
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 53 lines
The Environmental Protection Agency agreed Tuesday to enforce clean air standards more vigorously in several Middle Atlantic areas, including Virginia.
Under an agreement reached in U.S. District Court between the EPA and a coalition of environmental and health care groups, the EPA will immediately begin drafting a plan to reduce smog emissions in the District of Columbia by 15 percent.
Maryland, Virginia and the Philadelphia metropolitan area, which includes Wilmington, Del., and Trenton, N.J., have until spring to create smog-reduction plans that meet EPA approval. If they fail to meet those deadlines, the EPA has agreed to step in and implement its proposals.
Kurt Gregory Erickson, executive director for the American Lung Association of Northern Virginia, called the court settlement a ``public health victory.''
Groups including the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and the lung association filed the federal lawsuit during the summer, contending the EPA wasn't moving swiftly enough in forcing those Middle Atlantic areas to comply with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
``The unhealthy air we breathe reflects a serious failure on the part of the states to protect the health of their citizens,'' said Howard Fox of the Sierra Club when the suit was filed in June.
The lawsuit contended smog-reduction plans would help reduce the use of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, such as paint, solvents and gasoline. Dangerous VOC fumes are especially prevalent during summer months when ozone levels rise as increased sunlight and warm temperatures combine with stagnant atmospheric conditions.
The negotiated settlement reached in court Tuesday determines when each jurisdiction must submit its smog-reduction plan. The EPA is working with each state and city to ensure they make those deadlines, said Michael McCabe, the EPA regional administrator for Mid-Atlantic States.
Because the district's 1994 plan failed to adequately outline how the city would achieve the necessary pollution reduction, the EPA must begin drafting a smog-reduction plan for the city immediately, McCabe said.
But McCabe said if the district can come up with an acceptable plan by May 31, 1998, the federal plan will be dropped. If the city fails to do so, the EPA-drafted plan goes into effect Dec. 31, 1998.
Plans submitted by the other jurisdictions have received preliminary EPA approval. If they fail to win final approval by spring, McCabe said the settlement mandates the EPA compose a federal plan. Virginia has until April 15, Maryland's deadline is May 15, Delaware has until April 30, and Pennsylvania's deadline is May 30.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT EPA CLEAN AIR