More Smog in the Forecast for New Jersey?

The following story was written by Tom Johnson and published by our partners at NJSpotlight.com.

Compared with last year, this summer may have been a tad less taxing for those who experience breathing problems when smog blankets parts of New Jersey, a process involving an array of pollutants from cars, power plants and factories mixing together and cooking in the hot sunlight to form ground-level ozone.

So far, the state has violated the national health quality standard for ozone on 21 days in at least one part of New Jersey. That's an improvement from the previous summer, when the standard was exceeded 34 times as of September 6.

Presidential Pullback

But that was of little solace to environmentalists this past Friday, when the Obama administration unexpectedly announced on the eve of the busy Labor Day weekend, that it was pulling back a new rule that would tighten the standard for ground-level ozone, one of the most persistent pollution problems affecting the country. High levels of ozone contribute to asthma, heart problems and lung ailments.

Environmentalists argued the move would exacerbate health problems for children and those with respiratory problems in a state that has failed to ever attain the federal health quality standard for ozone. The more stringent change in the standard would have increased the number of areas around the country required to take steps to curb ozone levels, and would have forced New Jersey officials to adopt even more stringent measures to reduce smog-forming chemicals from vehicles, refineries and other manufacturing operations.

For the business community here, however, the pullback was a prudent step given the weak economy and sluggish job growth.

"It's probably not the right time to put the burden on the business community,'' said Michael Egenton, a senior vice president for the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. "Jobs and growing the economy are on everyone's agenda, including the President's.''

New Jersey, which at one time ranked behind only southern California in poor air quality for smog, has often gone far beyond other states in adopting pollution control measures to clean up its air.

Motorists today fuel up their cars at service stations equipped with special nozzles to reduce smog-forming chemicals. The state has adopted regulations preventing idling of diesel-fueled vehicles, which contributes to the problem. In a step that has irked lawmakers, it has proposed a rule to require companies to install floating roof-tanks with domes on storage tanks at refineries and other petro-chemical facilities.

The last regulation, which was adopted in 2009, has been often been cited by business lobbyists as a factor in why New Jersey companies have a tough time competing with their neighbors.

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