MTO: Macon's ozone woes hazy after court ruling

Macon's ozone future is unclear following a federal court decision remanding current standards back to the Environmental Protection Agency for review.

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the new eight-hour measurement being studied by the EPA and state counterparts might not be enforceable. The court has asked the EPA to prove why the new standard is better than the old.

While the debate continues on to the Supreme Court, city and state officials aren't sure what will happen to Macon - a city that has failed new standards for the past two years, and probably again this year, when it has never failed under the old one-hour rule.

"If this ruling hadn't happened, we would have continued to monitor and then tell the EPA at the end of summer that Macon violated the standards," said David Word, assistant director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. "Then the EPA would tell us the state has until 2003 to solve it."

The state will continue to monitor Macon on the eight-hour standard, Word said, with hopes of hearing a more definitive explanation of the ruling by the end of the month. All air-quality branch chiefs are meeting with EPA officials this week to discuss the ruling.

"What we don't know is that if at the end of the monitoring season, if we do find Macon has problems - which we expect - do we write the letter (confirming that) or wait until a decision has been settled," Word said.

Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce President Paul Nagle says his group will continue to look for emission-reducing solutions. The chamber created an ozone task force a couple of months ago to study the issue.

"We have a committee of folks who have technical expertise in science or in the context of dealing with federal and state environmental authorities," Nagle said. "At some point in time, they will publish a white paper on this and make a presentation, but it's very complicated."

Nagle said the goal of the chamber is to draw the communities together and find a workable solution to lowering ozone emissions that can be harmful to health.

"This is going to be an issue for the rest of our lives," Nagle said. "We want clean air like everyone else."

Macon has already violated standards this season. Dangerous ozone levels were reported on May 10 under the eight-hour rule, said Rafael Ballagas, program manager of the state's Ambient Monitoring Program. Under the one-hour rule, the day would have been fine, he said.

Some officials are pleased with the court ruling, claiming the new standards were too arbitrary.

"We all want a breath of fresh air, but EPA's regulations have strangled common sense right out of the Clean Air Act," Rep. Saxby Chambliss said in a statement. "On a local level, I am pleased the Court of Appeals recognized that counties, such as those throughout Georgia, are suffocating under these unconstitutional delegations of legislative power."

Georgia AirKeepers spokesperson Jennifer Lyons disagrees with Chambliss, calling ozone emissions dangerous.

"The court upheld the science that human health is at risk but took issue with the standard," Lyons said. "I'm concerned for what it will mean in Macon. I'm afraid the process (of creating ozone-reducing programs) won't go through as quickly to clean up the air."

Word said there is no telling what the court's final decision will be or how long it will take to get one.