- Air Information
- Broadcast E-mail Lists
- Commissions and Boards
- Contact Us
- Energy
- Environmental Issues
- Grants and Loans
- Land and Geology Information
- News Releases
- Online Services
- Organizational Chart
- Preservation
- Report an Environmental Problem
- Rules in Development
- Small Business Assistance
- State Parks
- Water Information
News Release 385
STATE OF MISSOURI SEEKS TO JOIN OZONE LAWSUIT
Jay Nixon fails to represent Missouri against job threat
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, JUNE 26, 2008 -- Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers today announced his agency is seeking to join a lawsuit to halt new nationwide federal ozone restrictions.
The new restrictions would likely place Kansas City in non-attainment, make it more difficult for St. Louis to reach attainment and cause additional Missouri communities to face the burden of being considered in non-attainment. This standard would even place rural counties such as Iron, Cedar and Perry in non-attainment. An area that violates the ozone standard is considered in non-attainment.
Last week, Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers called on Attorney General Jay Nixon to support Missouri's economic health by joining the State of Mississippi's appeal to halt the restrictions. Because Attorney General Nixon's response failed to indicate he would represent the state of Missouri, the department plans to move forward and will file a motion to intervene immediately.
"No one disputes the importance of maintaining good air quality for the health of Missourians," Childers said. "We believe the new federal regulation will place thousands of Missouri jobs at risk, jeopardizing income for Missouri families, and will result in unwarranted and burdensome regulations on industry."
The ozone issue has been smoldering for some time, according to Childers. Recent action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has brought it to the forefront as many states, including Missouri, made comments and suggestions on the issue.
"It would be the height of irresponsibility for the Attorney General to ignore this issue and then complain later when the rule is mandated on the states that this federal rule imposed an unnecessary economic burden on the citizens of Missouri," Childers said. "I had hoped the Attorney General would step forward and represent the State of Missouri, but his obvious reluctance to act on this time-sensitive issue leaves us no option but to intervene in this lawsuit on our own."
Because the Attorney General represents the State of Missouri, Childers said his agency would intervene on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources.
"If the concerns expressed by Mississippi are found to be valid, there's too much at risk for us to sit on the sidelines and hope Jay Nixon does his job," he said. "If we don't intervene now, we won't be able to do so down the road. We want to make sure our concerns about the new, stricter standard are heard by the federal court."
Under the current standard, ozone levels have been on the decline nationally. In Missouri, the Department of Natural Resources has implemented innovative new programs and technologies and aggressive monitoring to reduce ozone levels. The department is concerned that EPA did not consider the positive effects its current standard is having nationwide as well as the mobile nature of ozone. The federal agency also failed to consider addressing the ozone problem at regional or national levels and only accounted for man-made ozone, failing to account for biogenic ozone that occurs naturally.
The new standard could have a particularly detrimental effect on St. Louis and Kansas City. The Department of Natural Resources and local governments in those areas have worked hard to reach attainment status at the previous ozone standard. The new standard would likely place Kansas City in non-attainment and make it even more difficult for St. Louis to reach attainment, which it is projected to do next year. Historically, non-attainment areas have been categorized by the severity of the problem, for example marginal, moderate, serious, severe and extreme. The higher the monitored ozone values recorded above the standard, the more federally mandated emission controls placed on a community.
Under the new rule, additional areas of Missouri will likely be in non-attainment zones, which will require additional state and local funds and impose oppressive costs on private industry across the state.
Other states asked to join the lawsuit include Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Nevada, Arkansas, Alaska, Texas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Indiana, and Oklahoma.
For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.
###
