April 2016
On April 29th, the ATS and American Lung Association jointly filed an amicus brief – or friend of the court motion – in the case Murray Energy et al v. EPA regarding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. Earlier this year, the EPA issued a new ozone standard of 70 ppb/8-hours, which replaced the previous standard of 75 ppb.
As expected, industry has sued the EPA over the new ozone standard, claiming the new standard is too strict, while the environmental community is counter-suing the EPA stating that the standard fails to protect the public from the known adverse health effects of ozone exposure. The brief filed by the ATS supports the call for a more protective ozone standard of 60 ppb and says the EPA failed in its obligation to protect the public health when it set a more lenient standard of 70 ppb.
