Children and Environmental 

Justice Communities Need a 

60 ppb Smog Standard

1
EPA’s Must Finalize A 60 ppb 

Standard to Protect Public Health

2
Level of the Standard

The primary NAAQS at a level that is

• “requisite to protect public health”—including 

sensitive populations—

• with an “adequate margin of safety.”

– 42 U.S.C. § 7409(b)(1)

3
Level of the Standard

• EPA proposes 65 – 70 ppb

• EPA eliminates 60 ppb 

4
CASAC Advice

• 70 ppb: 

– A “significant concern, especially for children, 

asthmatics, the elderly and other at risk 

populations.”

5
CASAC Advice

• 70 ppb: 

– A “significant concern, especially for children, 

asthmatics, the elderly and other at risk 

populations.”

– “substantial scientific evidence of adverse effects” 

6
CASAC Advice

• 70 ppb: 

– A “significant concern, especially for children, 

asthmatics, the elderly and other at risk 

populations.” 

– “substantial scientific evidence of adverse effects” 

– “offers only modest incremental reductions in shortterm mortality risk . . . .”

7
CASAC Advice

• 70 ppb: 

– A “significant concern, especially for children, 

asthmatics, the elderly and other at risk 

populations.” 

– “substantial scientific evidence of adverse effects” 

– “offers only modest incremental reductions in shortterm mortality risk . . . .” 

• Even 60 ppb: 

– “clinically significant lung function decrements and 

airway inflammation” 

8
US EPA Children’s Health Protection 

Advisory Committee Advice

• “strongly re-affirm the recommendation of 60 

ppb based on . . . adverse childhood health 

impacts”

9
US EPA Children’s Health Protection 

Advisory Committee Advice

• “strongly re-affirm the recommendation of 60 

ppb based on . . . adverse childhood health 

impacts”

• “The higher end of the range, 60 ppb – 70 ppb 

. . . will not be sufficient to protect children’s 

health.” 

10
The Public Health Community Broadly 

Supports 60 ppb

• American Academy of 

Pediatrics

• American Association of 

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary 

Rehabilitation

• American College of 

Preventive Medicine

• American Heart Association

• American Lung Association

• American Public Health 

Association

• American Thoracic Society 

• Asthma and Allergy 

Foundation of America

• National Association for 

Medical Direction of 

Respiratory Care

• National Association of County 

and City Health Officials

• National Environmental Health 

Association

• National Home Oxygen 

Patients Association

• Physicians for Social 

Responsibility

• Trust for America's Health

11
EPA’s Proposed 65-70 ppb Level Is Less 

Protective Than Many Countries

Country 8 hour 

standard

Exceedances

Allowed per Year

WHO 51

United Kingdom 51 10

European Union 

(2010)

61 25 (per 3 years)

Ireland 61

Malaysia 61

Mongolia 61

Vietnam 61

Republic of Korea 61

Switzerland 61 1

Canada 65 3

12
The Form Weakens the Standard 

Even More

13
A Weak Form Requires Stronger Standard

• Form:

– Ignores 3 highest ozone days each year

• 4

th Highest 8-hr daily max

14
A Weak Form Requires Stronger Standard

• Form:

– Ignores 3 highest ozone days each year

• 4

th Highest 8-hr daily max

– Only After 3 Years

• Averaging across multiple years allows many more 

exceedances

15
A Weak Form

• Adds 7.2 – 8.1 ppb to the “level”

• Allows for multiple exceedances

16
17
EPA’s Justification of “Administrative Stability” is Not 

Supported by Data 

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

1st highest based DV 2nd highest based DV 4th highest based DV

Change (ppb)

Average Year-to-Year Change (ppb): 

1st vs. 2nd vs. 4th Highest Based Design Values 

(2000-02 through 2012-14)

3.2 

2.8 

2.5 

Marginal

"stability 

benefit" 

at best

10%

difference

12%

difference

18
0

5

10

15

20

25

Days with 8-hour ozone levels at or above 75 ppb

Attainment Areas from Higher to Lower 2011-13 Design Values, .075 - .071 ppb

Many Areas That Repeatedly Have Unsafe Air are Judged in Compliance and 

Will Never Have to Clean Their Air Due to EPA’s Form

Total days with 8-hour ozone levels of 75 ppb or higher during 2011-13 ozone seasons

Of that total, days in a single ozone season with 8-hour ozone level of 75 ppb or higher

19
Children and EJ Communities Face 

the Greatest Risk from Smog

20
Children Are at Great Risk

• EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee:

– “Children suffer a disproportionate burden of ozone-related health 

impacts due . . . that can result in permanent disability.”

21
Children Are at Great Risk

• EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee:

– “Children suffer a disproportionate burden of ozone-related health 

impacts due . . . that can result in permanent disability.” 

– “Children have increased susceptibility due to . . . increased outdoor 

physical activity compared with adults.” 

22
Children Are at Great Risk

• EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee:

– “Children suffer a disproportionate burden of ozone-related health 

impacts due . . . that can result in permanent disability.” 

– “Children have increased susceptibility due to . . . increased outdoor 

physical activity compared with adults.” 

– “The 6.8 million children suffering from asthma . . . are some of the 

most vulnerable.” 

23
Children Are at Great Risk

• EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee:

– “Children suffer a disproportionate burden of ozone-related health 

impacts due . . . that can result in permanent disability.” 

– “Children have increased susceptibility due to . . . increased outdoor 

physical activity compared with adults.” 

– “The 6.8 million children suffering from asthma . . . are some of the 

most vulnerable.” 

– “strongly re-affirm the recommendation of 60 ppb . . . the higher end 

of the range . . . will not . . . protect children’s health.”

24
Environmental Justice Communities Are at 

Great Risk

• Nationwide, people of color are significantly 

over-represented in areas with unsafe air

• As air quality decreases, over-representation 

of people of color increases

25
People of Color Are Over-Represented in Areas with Bad Air in the South

26
And in the Midwest

27
And in the Northeast

28
Increased Air Pollution = Increased Representation of People of Color, 

Decreased White Representation

29
This Trend Is Observed Throughout the Nation

30
A Weak NAAQS Adversely Impacts 

EJ Communities

31
0

5

10

15

20

25

81 76 76 75 75 75 75 75 74 73 73 72 72 72 71 69 69 67 66 66 66

Monitors in Houston Nonattainment Area (2012-14 Calculated Design Value)

Number of Days Ozone Monitors in the Houston Nonattainment Area Exceeded 

the NAAQS (2012-14)

Total Days with 8-hour ozone levels of 75 ppb or higher during 2011-2013 ozone seasons

Highest Of that total, days in a single ozone season with 8-hour levels of 75 ppb or higher

level:

136

104 114

113

102

104

100

103

96

95

99

92

95

85 91

94

84

85 88 86

78

88

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

% Black % Asian % Hispanic or

Latino

% White

Racial Over and Under Representation in 

the Houston Nonattainment Area

32
0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bucks - (75 ppb) Delaware - (74

ppb)

Philadelphia - (75

ppb)

Chester - (73

ppb)

Montgomery -

(72 ppb)

Philadelphia - (56

ppb)

Monitors in Philadelphia, PA Area - (2012-14 Calculated Design Value)

Number of Days Ozone Monitors in the Philadelphia, PA Area 

Exceeded the NAAQS (2012-14)

Total Days with 8-hour ozone levels of 75 ppb or higher during 2011-13 ozone seasons

Of that total, days in a single ozone season with 8-hour levels of 75 ppb or higher

Highest 

level: 94

86

87

78

77

87

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

% Black % Asian % Hispanic or

Latino

% White

Racial Over and Under Representation in 

Philadelphia, PA

33
0

5

10

15

20

25

30

79 78 76 74 72 70 70 70 70 70 70 68 67 65

Monitors in the Chicago, IL Area (2012-14 Calculated Design Value)

Number of Days Ozone Monitors in the Chicago, IL Area Exceeded 

the NAAQS (2012-14)

Total Days with 8-hour ozone levels of 75 ppb or higher during 2011-2013 ozone seasons

Of that total, days in a single ozone season with 8-hour levels of 75 ppb or higher

Highest level:

103 

 100 94 

 

96

100

96

93

103 89

86

87

85 81

76

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

% Black % Asian % Hispanic or

Latino

% White

Racial Over and Under Representation in 

Chicago, IL

34
EPA Cannot Rely On People Staying 

Indoors To Justify 70 ppb

35
The Clean Air Act Mandates Air that Is Safe for 

All People to Breathe at All Times

– “the Clean Air Act . . . provid[es] citizens the opportunity to 

pursue their normal activities in a healthy environment.” 

 (44 Fed. Reg. at 8210)

36
The Clean Air Act Mandates Air that Is Safe for 

All People to Breathe at All Times

– “the Clean Air Act . . . provid[es] citizens the opportunity to 

pursue their normal activities in a healthy environment.” 

 (44 Fed. Reg. at 8210)

– “[The Clean Air Act] states that all Americans in all parts of 

the Nation should have clean air to breathe, air that will 

have no adverse effects on their health.” 

- Senator Muskie, Sept. 21, 1970

37
A 70 ppb Standard Betrays the Clean Air Act’s 

Promise of Safe Air for All

• EPA uses diaries to assume most people will spend 

most of the time indoors to justify 70 ppb based on 

“exposure estimates.”

38
A 70 ppb Standard Betrays the Clean Air Act’s 

Promise of Safe Air for All

• EPA uses diaries to assume most people will spend 

most of the time indoors to justify 70 ppb based on 

“exposure estimates.”

• Even still, with a 70 ppb standard, EPA estimates:

– over a million sensitive individuals will experience unsafe 

air

– millions of kids will endure adverse lung function 

decrements.

39
2008 Ozone Standard:

RACT and Transport

Coal EGUs = Easy NOx Reductions

40
RACT Is Installation And Operation Of SCRs On 

Coal Fired EGUs

• Reasonably Available Control Technology

– “the lowest emissions limit that a particular 

source is capable of meeting by the application of 

control technology that is reasonably available 

considering technological and economic

feasibility”

– Economic feasibility for RACT purposes, as EPA has 

clarified “is largely determined by evidence that 

other sources in a source category have in fact 

applied the control technology in question”
RACT = SCR Installation

• SCR is in wide use in the coal fired EGU fleet

• 48% of coal fired EGUs have or will have SCR 

– by MW, excluding announced retirements and units below 100 MW

• 37% of coal fired EGUs have or will have SCR

– by units, excluding announced retirements and units below 100 MW

• 52% of unannounced coal fired units have or will have SCR using a 150 MW 

cutoff

• SCR can achieve NOx reductions of well over 90%. 

• Plants with SCR routinely emit NOx at levels well below .07 lbs/MMbtu

• Scores of permits for new coal fired EGUs require SCR level emissions at or 

below .07 lbs/MMbtu

42
RACT = SCR Installation

• EPA: “likely . . . very large [EGU] emissions 

reductions . . . before costs [justify] non-EGU.”

• SCR with LNB and OFA: Between $1,210 and 

$4,550 (2015$). 

– See e.g., 77 Fed. Reg. 50,936; 78 Fed. Reg. 8,273–8,294 ; 77 Fed. Reg. 76,871 (Dec. 31, 2012); 77 Fed. 

Reg. 76,871 (Dec. 31, 2012); 77 Fed. Reg. 72,511 (Dec. 5, 2012); 77 Fed. Reg. 72,511 (Dec. 5, 2012)

• SCR with sorbent injection: Between $1,690 and 

$2,060 (2015$).

– See e.g., 76 Fed. Reg. 52,388 (Aug. 22, 2011).

• SCR alone $2,835 to $3,430 (2015$).

– 735 See e.g., 75 Fed. Reg. 64,221 (Oct. 19, 2010); 77 Fed. Reg. 51,915 (Aug. 28, 2012); 76 Fed. Reg. 

80,754 (Dec. 27, 2011); 75 Fed. Reg. 64,221 (Oct. 19, 2010).
Many OTR States Are Imposing 

Stringent RACT Standards

• New York: 0.12 lbs/MMBtu for tangential and 

wall coal-fired boilers, 0.08 lbs/MMBtu for 

fluidized bed coal-fired boilers

• New Jersey: 1.50 lb/MWh per 24 hours ozone 

season

• Delaware: 0.125 lbs/MMBtu on a rolling 24-hour 

average basis

• Maryland: 0.07 or 0.08 lbs/MMBtu on a rolling 

24-hour average basis for units with existing SCR; 

0.09 lbs/MMbtu as a 30-day average beginning in 

2020 for units without SCR
RACT = Operation Of SCRs

• Many of the 42% of EGUs with SCRs are not fully operating their SCRs:

– In recent years, over 50 coal units with SCRs emitted NOx at levels over 3 times 

greater than their best demonstrated rate

– 88 units emitted NOx at levels double their best rate 

– 135 units emitted NOx at levels 50% higher than their best rate

45
Emission Reductions from Operating SCR Are 

Highly Cost-Effective

• Simply running already installed controls on coal units in the 

CSAPR region would:

– Eliminate 136,534 tons of ozone season NOx emission reductions

– At a total cost of $63.5 million

– And a cost/ton of only $465

46
MD and PA Are At Risk Of Adopting A 

Weak RACT Standard

• MD: Governor Hogan has blocked MD’s RACT 

standard and announced intentions to roll back 

the regulations adopted under O’Malley

• PA: Governor Wolfe’s DEP is considering a RACT 

standard that would set a level of 0.12 

lbs/MMbtu for controlled plants and allow poorly 

controlled plants to continue operating without 

modern controls (“SCR”)

• These states must have their RACT approved by 

EPA Region 3 
Modeled Benefits of Installation and Operation 

of SCR Controls on Eastern Coal Fleet

Installation and operation of SCR controls on the full Eastern US coal 

fleet would result reduce total US NOx emissions by over 3/5th

(nearly 800,000 tons/year) providing significant air quality benefits 48
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