Recent field hearings in five major U.S. cities highlighted the debate over the need to write a more stringent air quality standard for ozone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is under court order to issue an updated standard by March 2008. Industry representatives used two familiar arguments to urge EPA to leave the existing ten-year old ozone standard untouched, while public health experts and citizens argued the health impacts under the current standard are potentially devastating.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced proposed changes to the national standard for ground-level ozone, also known as smog. Scientific consensus supports a limit substantially lower than the current standard. EPA's proposal has drawn criticism for being too weak to fully protect the public from the adverse health effects of ozone. A lack of transparency in the rulemaking process has left the public in the dark as to whether EPA, the White House or industry lobbyists may be to blame.

While legislators were leaving Washington and families across America spent time celebrating the holidays, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continued to issue rules and contemplate regulations. Several issues received little attention from media and lawmakers despite their potentially significant impact on the nation’s public health and welfare. Here is a brief summary of some of EPA's work during late December and early January.