Monthly Archives: September 2012

EPA’s New Ozone Rule: Part 11

In 2008, the EPA under Administrator Stephen Johnson revised the primary ozone standard to 75 ppb. He was succeeded the next year by Lisa Jackson, the appointee of the incoming Obama administration. Soon after, the EPA began its reconsideration of the new ozone standard, and Ms. Jackson decided to revise the standard, lowering it to 70 ppb.

Her rationale is recorded in the EPA document National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone, Final Preamble, 2011, pages 61 through 186. In this section, Jackson’s positions are summarized, then comments from interested parties appear together with EPA’s responses. A short piece summarizes the comments of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), followed by the rationale for the final decision. A second section, pages 192 through 296, describes the rationale for the secondary standard, the standard meant to protect property and other interests.

It’s a lot to read, and I can’t say I read every word. However, the impression from what I did read was that Jackson wasn’t in possession of any evidence that Johnson didn’t have. Rather, she placed different weight on the evidence. What Johnson saw as sufficient to lower the primary standard to 75 ppb and no further, Jackson felt compelled to lower the standard down to 70 ppb. Here is the summary section “Conclusions on the Level of the Primary Standard”, page 167 ff., with my comments interspersed. The frequent references to Samet are to a 67-page letter written to Jackson in March 2011 from Dr. Jonathan M. Samet, chair of CASAC with the subject line Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Response to Charge Questions on the Reconsideration of the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. If you wish to read the letter, click here.

Note: The paragraph sign in brackets [¶] indicates a paragraph break that I introduced that isn’t in the original document.

To begin, let’s read what the Jackson set out to do in EPA’s own words:

As a result of the reconsideration, the Administrator has determined that a different level of the primary O3 standard than the 0.075 ppm level set in 2008 is requisite to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. For the reasons discussed below, the Administrator has decided to set the level of the 8-hour primary O3 at 0.070 ppm…

What influenced her to make this decision?

In the 2010 proposal, the Administrator [Jackson — MHK] concluded it was appropriate to propose to set the primary O3 standard below 0.075 ppm. This conclusion was based on the evidence and exposure/risk-based considerations … and the Administrator’s determination that 0.075 ppm was a level at which the evidence provides a high degree of certainty about the adverse effects of O3 exposure on healthy people. The Administrator’s public health policy judgment on the proposed range for the level of the primary O3 standard was framed by the evidence and exposure/risk-based considerations discussed above in this notice and informed by the following key observations and conclusions on the controlled human exposure and epidemiological studies and the results of the human exposure and health risk assessments.

She will now state four reasons why the evidence suggests that the standard should be lowered (p. 168).

(1) There is a strong body of evidence from controlled human exposure studies evaluating healthy people at O3 exposure levels of 0.080 ppm and above that demonstrated lung function decrements, respiratory symptoms, pulmonary inflammation, and other medically significant airway responses. Newly available for the 2008 review, there is the limited but important evidence of lung function decrements and respiratory symptoms in healthy people down to O3 exposure levels of 0.060 ppm…

I believe Johnson had this same evidence. I suspect that if we sat the two administrators together, they would argue about the importance of limited evidence. When is limited evidence important evidence?

(2) A large number of epidemiological studies [studies that look at people in the street, not in the laboratory — MHK] have reported statistically significant associations between ambient O3 levels and a wide array of respiratory symptoms and other morbidity outcomes including school absences, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions. More specifically, positive and robust associations were found between ambient O3 concentrations and respiratory hospital admissions and emergency department visits… across distributions of ambient O3 concentrations that extend well below the 2008 standard level of 0.075 ppm…

The above is a powerful statement, which if true, would give good cause to lower the standard. But I would want to know what the contribution to morbidity outcomes is made by ambient O3 concentrations in the 0.075 – 0.070 ppm range. This is what we need to balance against any economic cost.

The next reason concerns people with respiratory problems and diseases. Note the concern that studies that look at only healthy people may be underestimating the effects of ozone on those with respiratory problems, although by how much is unknown:

(3) There is substantial evidence … indicating that children and adults with asthma and other preexisting lung diseases are at increased risk from O3 exposure… Evidence from controlled human exposure studies indicates that asthmatics are likely to experience larger and more serious effects in response to O3 exposure than healthy people. This evidence indicates that … controlled human exposure studies of lung function decrements and respiratory symptoms that evaluate only healthy, non-asthmatic subjects likely underestimate the effects of O3 exposure on asthmatics and other people with preexisting lung diseases. However, there is uncertainty about the magnitude of the differences in their responses such that we are not able to quantify the magnitude of any such differences.

Finally, a statement of confidence that lower ozone levels will improve public health:

(4) The assessments of exposures of concern and risks for a range of health effects indicate that important improvements in public health are very likely associated with O3 levels just meeting alternative standard levels evaluated in these assessments, especially for the alternative levels of 0.070 and 0.064 ppm, relative to levels at and above 0.075 ppm…

Now the following paragraph leads me to believe that Jackson did not base her decision on evidence that Johnson did not have. Rather, she interpreted the same evidence differently and was more accepting of CASAC’s recommendations (p. 171):

These observations and conclusions led the Administrator to propose to set the primary O3 standard at a level in the range of 0.060 to 0.070 ppm. In so doing she placed significant weight on the information newly available in the 2008 review that had been reviewed by CASAC, and took into consideration public comments that had been received during the 2008 review. She also placed significant weight on CASAC’s conclusion that important public health protections can be achieved by a standard set below 0.075 ppm, within the range of 0.060 to 0.070 ppm.

Here the document acknowledges the considerations that led Johnson to establish the 0.075 ppm standard, noting the value judgements he made (p. 171):

In reaching a final decision on the level of the primary O3 standard, the Administrator again considered whether the standard level of 0.075 ppm set in the 2008 final rule is sufficiently below 0.080 ppm to be requisite to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. In considering this standard level, the Administrator looked to the rationale for selecting this level presented in the 2008 final rule… In that rationale, EPA observed that a level of 0.075 ppm is above the range of 0.060 to 0.070 ppm recommended by CASAC, and that the CASAC Panel appeared to place greater weight on the evidence from the Adams studies and on the results of the exposure and risk assessments, whereas EPA placed greater weight on the limitations and uncertainties associated with that evidence and the quantitative exposure and risk assessments. Additionally in 2008, EPA’s rationale did not discuss and thus placed no weight on exposures of concern relative to the 0.060 ppm benchmark level. Further, EPA concluded that “[a] standard set at a lower level than 0.075 ppm would only result in significant further public health protection if, in fact, there is a continuum of health risks in areas with 8-hour average O3 concentrations that are well below the concentrations observed in the key controlled human exposure studies and if the reported associations observed in epidemiological studies are, in fact, causally related to O3 at those lower levels. Based on the available evidence, [EPA] is not prepared to make these assumptions.” (73 FR 16483).

Now Jackson is going to state where she disagrees with Johnson. This strengthens my impression that the decision to lower the limit was a judgement call about which reasonable people can differ (p. 172):

In reconsidering the entire body of evidence available in the 2008 rulemaking, including the Agency’s own assessment of the epidemiological evidence in the 2006 Criteria Document, the views of CASAC, including its most recent advice (Samet, 2011), and the public comments received on the 2010 reconsideration proposal, the Administrator finds no basis to change her conclusion that important and significant risks to public health are likely to occur at a standard level of 0.075 ppm. Thus, she judges that a standard level of 0.075 ppm is not sufficient to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. In support of this conclusion, the Administrator finds that setting a standard that would protect public health, including the health of susceptible populations, with an adequate margin of safety should reasonably depend upon giving some weight to the results of the Adams studies and EPA’s analysis of the Adams’s data, and some weight to the results of epidemiological studies of respiratory morbidity effects that may extend down to levels below 0.060 ppm.

A limit of outdoor ozone concentration set at level X actually protects people from effects below X, since people spend much of their time indoors where ozone levels are naturally lower. Since they are likely to be indoors when the ozone level reaches X, their maximum exposure to ozone will probably be to levels much below X. Jackson’s argument here is that if setting the limit at 0.070 ppm will limit people’s exposure to ozone levels above 0.060 ppm:

[¶]Moreover, the Administrator concludes that, in setting such a standard, consideration should be given to how effectively alternative standard levels would serve to limit exposures of concern relative to the 0.060 ppm benchmark level as well as the 0.070 ppm benchmark level, based on EPA’s exposure and risk assessments…

So far, Jackson has explained why she feels that the limit of 0.075 ppm is inadequate. She wants to take CASAC’s recommendation of a limit between 0.060 and 0.070 ppm. But she needs to select an exact number. In my next post, she’ll explain how she did that.

EPA’s New Ozone Rule: Part 10

Before discussing how the EPA established its ground-level ozone standards in 2010, let’s look at for the standards it established in 2008 under the second Bush administration. I found the following excerpt very informative: I took it from the EPA document National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone (Final Preamble, 2011), from the section “2008 Decision on the Level of the Primary Standard”, and it starts on page 57. I copied and pasted the entire section, edited down the length, then interspersed the text with my comments. Paragraph breaks not in the original text are marked with a paragraph sign in brackets [¶].

First, the EPA explains why it couldn’t leave the standard as it was. There was too much evidence that ozone causes harm at then present concentration of 84 ppb. Notice how much seems to depend on personal judgement rather than on objective criteria. In other words, you can’t program a computer to set ozone standards.

This section presents the rationale for the 2008 final decision on the primary O3 standard as presented in the 2008 final rule (73 FR 16475). EPA’s conclusions on the level of the standard began by noting that, having carefully considered the public comments on the appropriate level of the O3 standard, EPA concluded that the fundamental scientific conclusions on the effects of O3 reached in the 2006 Criteria Document and 2007 Staff Paper remained valid. … In considering the available scientific evidence, EPA concluded that a focus on the proposed range of 0.070 to 0.075 ppm was appropriate in light of the large body of controlled human exposure and epidemiological and other scientific evidence. The 2008 final rule stated that this body of evidence did not support retaining the then current 0.084 ppm 8-hour O3 standard, as suggested by some commenters, nor did it support setting a level just below 0.080 ppm, because, based on the entire body of evidence, such a level would not provide a significant increase in protection compared to the 0.084 ppm standard. Further, such a level would not be appreciably below the level in controlled human exposure studies at which adverse effects have been demonstrated (i.e., 0.080 ppm).

On one hand, the EPA couldn’t be satified with the current standard: there was too much scientific research proving that 84 ppb harmed people’s health. Lowering the standard a little bit wasn’t worth it; that would help too little. On the other hand, as we will see below, the EPA did not want to go overboard. Setting the level at 60 ppb was going too far; it had no evidence that going that far would increase protection for human health. This left the EPA with a range between 70 and 75 ppb, but the evidence in itself didn’t point to a specific level within this range (p. 58):

[¶] The 2008 final rule also stated that the body of evidence did not support setting a level of 0.060 ppm or below, as suggested by other commenters. In evaluating the information from the exposure assessment and the risk assessment, EPA judged that this information did not provide a clear enough basis for choosing a specific level within the range of 0.075 to 0.070 ppm.

But now EPA must explain why it is going against the recommendations of its own advisory committee, CASAC (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee). What EPA seems to saying here is that CASAC wasn’t influenced by scientific considerations alone but also by their opinions about policy. The EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, however, asserted his policy perogative, used his own judgement, and overruled CASAC (p. 58).

In making a final judgment about the level of the primary O3 standard, EPA noted that the level of 0.075 ppm is above the range unanimously recommended by the CASAC (i.e., 0.070 to 0.060 ppm). The 2008 final rule stated that in placing great weight on the views of CASAC, careful consideration had been given to CASAC’s stated views and the scientific basis and policy views for the range it recommended. In so doing, EPA fully agreed that the scientific evidence supports the conclusion that the current standard was not adequate and must be revised.

With respect to CASAC’s recommended range of standard levels, EPA observed that the basis for CASAC’s recommendation appeared to be a mixture of scientific and policy considerations. While in general agreement with CASAC’s views concerning the interpretation of the scientific evidence, EPA noted that there was no bright line clearly directing the choice of level, and the choice of what was appropriate was clearly a public health policy judgment entrusted to the EPA Administrator. This judgment must include consideration of the strengths and limitations of the evidence and the appropriate inferences to be drawn from the evidence and the exposure and risk assessments.

The EPA Administrator will now explain that his judgement differed from CASAC’s because he put different weight on the available evidence. The Adams studies which indicated health effects on healthy sujuects at 60 ppb in the laboratory were too limited. The exposure and risk assessments done by CASAC were too uncertain (p. 59).

[¶] In reviewing the basis for the CASAC Panel’s recommendation for the range of the O3 standard, EPA observed that it reached a different policy judgment than the CASAC Panel based on apparently placing different weight in two areas: the role of the evidence from the Adams studies and the relative weight placed on the results from the exposure and risk assessments. While EPA found the evidence reporting effects at the 0.060 ppm level from the Adams studies to be too limited to support a primary focus at this level, EPA observed that the CASAC Panel appeared to place greater weight on this evidence, as indicated by its recommendation of a range down to 0.060 ppm. … However, EPA more heavily weighed the implications of the uncertainties associated with the Agency’s quantitative human exposure and health risk assessments. Given these uncertainties, EPA did not agree that these assessment results appropriately served as a primary basis for concluding that levels at or below 0.070 ppm were required for the 8-hour O3 standard.

Now comes EPA’s final explanation for setting the ozone standard at 75 ppb. Note the interesting argument that if the standard is set at 75 ppb, most people will not be exposed to more than 70 ppb, probably because ozone levels are always lower indoors, and people are not always outdoors when ozone levels are at their highest. EPA also explains what would have convinced it that a standard lower than 75 ppb carried enough additional public health protection to justify itself (p. 60).

The 2008 final rule stated that … EPA decided to revise the level of the primary 8-hour O3 standard to 0.075 ppm. EPA judged … that a standard set at this level would be requisite to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety, including the health of sensitive subpopulations, from serious health effects including respiratory morbidity, that were judged to be causally associated with short-term and prolonged exposures to O3, and premature mortality. EPA also judged that a standard set at this level provides a significant increase in protection compared to the 0.084 ppm standard, and is appreciably below 0.080 ppm, the level in controlled human exposure studies at which adverse effects have been demonstrated.

[¶] At a level of 0.075 ppm, exposures at and above the benchmark of 0.080 ppm are essentially eliminated, and exposures at and above the benchmark of 0.070 are substantially reduced or eliminated for the vast majority of people in susceptible populations. A standard set at a level lower than 0.075 would only result in significant further public health protection if, in fact, there is a continuum of health risks in areas with 8-hour average O3 concentrations that are well below the concentrations observed in the key controlled human exposure studies and if the reported associations observed in epidemiological studies are, in fact, causally related to O3 at those lower levels. Based on the available evidence, EPA was not prepared to make these assumptions.

[¶] Taking into account the uncertainties that remained in interpreting the evidence from available controlled human exposure and epidemiological studies at very low levels, EPA noted that the likelihood of obtaining benefits to public health decreased with a standard set below 0.075 ppm O3, while the likelihood of requiring reductions in ambient concentrations that go beyond those that are needed to protect public health increased.

[¶] EPA judged that the appropriate balance to be drawn … was to set the 8-hour primary standard at 0.075 ppm. EPA expressed the view that a standard set at 0.075 ppm would be sufficient to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety, and did not believe that a lower standard was needed to provide this degree of protection. EPA further asserted that this judgment appropriately considered the requirement for a standard that was neither more nor less stringent than necessary for this purpose and recognized that the CAA [Clean Air Act — MHK] does not require that primary standards be set at a zero-risk level, but rather at a level that reduces risk sufficiently so as to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety.

So we see that the 2008 standard of 75 ppb was clearly a judgement call. There is no sure way of determining where exactly the costs of reducing ozone outweigh the health benefits. From reading the section, it seems almost like a gut decision what risks are acceptable and how much evidence is necessary to prove harm. I think it is no more than an educated guess where the balance lies, and in 2008, the EPA thought it lay at 75 ppb. Why did its opinion change in 2010? That is the subject of the next post.