Smog regulations just got tougher

After peddling his mountain bike along the circuitous spine of the Santa Monica mountains, self-described "fitness guru" Darrell Jacobs pauses to take in the view of downtown L.A. skyscrapers.

"The air is definitely clearer than when I was a kid here," says Mr. Jacobs, a computer consultant. "But in recent years we've begun to slide back a little. If we go back to the way things were then, I'm outta here."

His comment echoes the concerns of local officials and major US environmental groups who are applauding new federal guidelines for cleaner air that will impose far stricter requirements on the nation's dirtiest skies from Los Angeles to Denver to Houston.

But as 31 governors and their states' business associations grapple with news that their states are out of compliance, the same officials and environmentalists worry aloud that extended deadlines could erase hard-fought gains.

"The feds have pulled the rug out from under all current plans," says Mary Nichols, former secretary of the California Resource Agency and now director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment. "That leaves one of the most problematic regions in the country without any enforceable rules."

In southern California, one of the nation's worst smog offenders, the new rules extend the date when unhealthy air days must end completely by 11 years. But some say the state is already running out of new ideas to fight pollution.

To meet the previous standard by 2010, the Southern California Air Quality Management District introduced a hefty master plan last fall that takes aim at the use of everything from industrial rust sealers to household bug spray. The plan has yet to be formally approved by the EPA.

Local officials fear that the new guidelines will eliminate the need for that approval and so no enforceable rules will be in place for 17 more years.

"The new standard is good for public health and will mean cleaner air and fewer adverse health effects," says Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. "[But] we are concerned that this later deadline will take away the urgency for cleaning our air not only for industry but for the state and federal government."

The EPA announced April 15 that 474 counties nationwide fail to meet a new higher standard for limiting ground-level ozone, a key ingredient of smog. Old rules allowed an average of 120 parts per billion (p.p.b.) averaged over one hour. New guidelines say the average must reduced to 85 p.p.b. averaged over eight hours.

The new standards for smog is an important acknowledgment by the federal government that "the impacts of smog have long been worse than everyone thought," says Gail Ruderman Feuer, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "But we are concerned that this could significantly weaken air quality rules around the country in the short term," says Ms. Feuer.

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