Yesterday, the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) unanimously voted on recommendations to EPA concerning ground-level ozone (or smog), according to BNA news service (subscription). CASAC voted to lower the allowable standard to between 0.060 ppm and 0.070 ppm from its current level of 0.08 ppm. CASAC purposefully used an extra digit so regulators could not manipulate the standard by rounding. And you thought you would never use significant figures after high school. CASAC's recommendation is similar to that of an EPA staff paper released in January. The EPA should now adopt the recommendation when it revises the standard which the Clean Air Act requires EPA to do every five years. Though based on sound science and developed by bright minds, the CASAC recommendation took some guts too. Industry has been vocal in opposing a tighter standard on smog. Also, EPA has been meddling with CASAC's ability to act independently, as a recent Senate oversight hearing uncovered. EPA has until Mar. 2008 to make its final decision, but with this administration it's never too early to start urging administrators to prioritize science and the public interest ahead of politics and special interests.