{"id":25269,"date":"2015-10-15T10:03:07","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T15:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=25269"},"modified":"2015-10-20T10:00:59","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T15:00:59","slug":"oklahoma-air-quality-improves-as-feds-roll-out-new-ozone-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/10\/15\/oklahoma-air-quality-improves-as-feds-roll-out-new-ozone-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Air Quality Improves as Feds Roll Out New Ozone Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_25257\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tomnickell\/4282410690\/in\/photolist-aKRCVV-2NZUKC-2m2Dhw-7wqtv5-7vYcUT-BDU3m-5pRaG4-arctYu-c2HQw-fKAoL-aqw6C-5e4FJJ-44vvbj-6R7atL-nSBnq-4c7q9C-31ZK9v-p7AuH\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-25257\" alt=\"Public Service Co. of Oklahoma's coal and natural gas-fired Northeastern generating station in Oologah, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/northeastern-station-620x398.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/northeastern-station-620x398.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/northeastern-station-500x321.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/northeastern-station-150x96.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/northeastern-station-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/10\/northeastern-station.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">\u00a9 Tom Nickell \/ Flickr<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Public Service Co. of Oklahoma&#39;s coal and natural gas-fired Northeastern generating station in Oologah, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The Obama Administration recently announced\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCwQqQIoADABahUKEwia6sjx3sLIAhVGzYAKHUNBDy0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fpolicy%2Fenergy-environment%2F255826-obamas-ozone-evolution&usg=AFQjCNEF7bokl3mWBcSpX5ZTr0Xm8252rw&sig2=9lK0rfgs9GozYl32HthE7w\">stricter limits<\/a>\u00a0on ground-level ozone, a smog-causing pollutant closely monitored by environmentalists and the fossil fuel industry. The national rules are designed to address local air quality problems individual states can\u2019t fix alone.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/228516897&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more-->Goeller has his finger on the trigger. He checks the sensors, consults with meteorologists. And, if things look bad, he pushes the button.<\/p><p>\u201cWell, it\u2019s a pretty big button, but I\u2019m involved in calling the ozone alerts,\u201d says Goeller, an air quality specialist at the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.<\/p><p>Oklahoma\u2019s ozone alert \u201cbutton\u201d functions more like an email. When Goeller sounds the ground-level ozone alarm, cities and counties join him in a media blitz. Together, the government officials urge Oklahomans to put away the lawnmowers and park their cars. If it gets really bad, they tell kids, seniors and people with breathing problems to stay indoors.<\/p><p>But Oklahoma officials issued fewer ozone alerts in the last few years.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a clean year,\u201d Goeller says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of precipitation, it\u2019s been a little cooler than what we\u2019ve seen the last few years. We have a nice breeze, and that tends to keep things clean.<\/p>\n<h3>Ozone equation<\/h3><p>Weather plays a large role in creating ozone, which is a big part of smog. Emissions from vehicle tailpipes, factories, refineries and power plants are big contributors, too. Those emissions plus heat and sunlight equal ground-level ozone. That\u2019s why smog is usually worse in the summer months. In Oklahoma, ozone monitoring peaks from April through November.<\/p><p>Oklahoma\u2019s air is getting cleaner, Goeller says. And not just because of the weather. He says federal ozone limits and air pollution rules are working.<\/p><p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued new stricter limits on ground-level ozone. The ozone rules arrive on the heels of the EPA\u2019s controversial Clean Power Plan and proposed restrictions on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.<\/p><p>Addressing Janet McCabe, the assistant administrator of the EPA&#8217;s Office of Air and Radiation, at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma assailed the rules as part of President Barack Obama&#8217;s &#8220;air agenda.&#8221;<\/p><p>\u201cThese regulations would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, leaving stakeholders with an economic burden that will take generations to pay down,\u201d Inhofe told the committee at the hearing in late September 2015.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17916\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17916\" alt=\"Meers area resident Bill Cunningham looks for haze over the Wichita Mountains from the top of Mt. Scott.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/01\/Cunningham1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/01\/Cunningham1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/01\/Cunningham1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/01\/Cunningham1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/01\/Cunningham1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meers area resident Bill Cunningham looks for haze over the Wichita Mountains from the top of Mt. Scott.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Inhofe, industry and state officials were worried the EPA would side with environmentalists and set the ground-level ozone standard to 65 parts per billion, which would likely mean all 77 counties in Oklahoma would be out of attainment.<\/p><p>\u201cIt is a very significant thing personally, to me, and the State of Oklahoma,\u201d Inhofe said.<\/p><p>In the end, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy settled in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC0Q-AsoATABahUKEwia6sjx3sLIAhVGzYAKHUNBDy0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindychannel.com%2Fnewsy%2Fpresident-obamas-new-ozone-regulation-pleases-no-one&usg=AFQjCNEiZQHuGB2dE7fkvfYSlrODkwPX-w&sig2=r-dBdDDqtTIAy1c0qJBS1g\">the middle<\/a>. On October 1, the EPA set the new ground-level ozone standard at 70 parts per billion, a move <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/10\/obama-administration-tightens-regulations-for-smog-causing-ozone-pollution-214323\">seen by many as a win for industry<\/a> groups.<\/p>\n<h3>States breathe \u2018the same air\u2019<\/h3><p>With the new 70 parts per billion ground-level ozone standard \u2014 which is determined through <a href=\"http:\/\/www3.epa.gov\/region1\/airquality\/avg8hr.html\">a calculation<\/a> of a specific monitoring site\u2019s three-year average \u2014 most counties in Oklahoma should be in compliance, says the DEQ\u2019s Goeller.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019ll have a couple sites that will be right on the borderline if things keep going the way they\u2019ve gone the last couple of years,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>Monitoring sites near Tulsa and Oklahoma City \u2014 where there\u2019s a big concentration of cars and trucks \u2014 are the sites most likely to exceed the new EPA limits, Goeller says.<\/p><p>\u201cWe might flirt with being nonattainment with those two, but the rest of the sites in the state should be just fine.\u201d<\/p><p>Smog is worsened by sunny, hot, still weather \u2014 which people can\u2019t control. States like Oklahoma also can\u2019t prevent ozone-causing precursor compounds from blowing in from neighboring sources \u2014 like Texas. Goeller says that\u2019s why national ozone limits are important.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re in the same boat that everyone across the nation is. We breathe the same air,\u201d he says. \u201cIf we do our job here, everyone else will do their job, too.\u201d<\/p><p>Goeller says air pollution is a problem that\u2019s impossible to tackle on an individual state level. Over the decades, tougher, national air pollution rules have led to local success stories. When he first started monitoring air quality more than 20 years ago, Oklahoma governments regularly issued carbon monoxide alerts.<\/p><p>Not anymore. Goeller credits the federal government, which imposed strict emissions limits on cars and trucks<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s another air quality success story,\u201d he says. \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t happen anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Obama Administration recently announced\u00a0stricter limits\u00a0on ground-level ozone, a smog-causing pollutant closely monitored by environmentalists and the fossil fuel industry. The national rules are designed to address local air quality problems individual states can\u2019t fix alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":25257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[553,499,495,626],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25269"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25280,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25269\/revisions\/25280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}