Latest EPA Report Shows that Skies Are Cleaner in Eastern United States

The Environmental Protection Agency released the NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP) annual report today and nitrogen oxide emissions were 7% lower than two years ago and more importantly 74% lower than 1990 levels. The report covers 19 eastern states and the District of Columbia.

Previously, as determined by the EPA in April 2004, there were 104 areas in the eastern US that were in "non-attainment" status for 8-Hour Ozone Levels, which meant that the minimum levels of healthy air quality were not being met. Now, only nineteen of those areas are still in non-attainment status, and those areas have shown a reduction of between five and eight percent in NOx emissions. Nitrogen Oxides are the compounds that lead to ground-level ozone formation, otherwise know as smog.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson applauds the new numbers. "By cutting smog-forming emissions, 55 million Americans in the eastern United States are breathing easier thanks to President Bush's clean air policies," he said in a press release. "NOx reductions are not just good news for the health of our environment and the health of our residents, they are good news for the health of our economy."

The annual report shows that the biggest reductions were found in the Mid-Atlantic States with West Virginia and Pennsylvania leading the way. However, Pennsylvania still exceeds the limit for NOx emissions, as does Maryland, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Alabama. But considering that Pennsylvania has reduced their emissions from nearly 200 million metric tons down to just over 50 million, it is still good news. Many of the states that are still above their budget are states in which there is a history of heavy industry.

The Nitrogen Oxides Budget Trading Program is a cap and trade program in which policies are flexible in allowing electric generating sources choose how to reduce emissions, which can include replacing and upgrading current emissions controls or adding new and more advanced controls. The EPA credits the flexibility with leading to an overall 99% compliance rate among the industries involved. In fact, the compliance percentage in 2006 was 99.7%. Fines can also be a factor in whether companies comply with the EPA-set budget.

The NBP measures ozone levels only in the summer months, or the "ozone season" of May 1to September 30. This tends to be when electric generation is at its highest levels. The NBP is credited as the "most significant contributor" among EPA clean air program in reducing nitrogen oxides emissions and improving ground-level ozone in the eastern US. Nitrogen oxides can also lead to the formation of acid rain.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency