Environmentalists petition EPA over ozone concern

An environmental group has filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force 16 Western states to revise their air quality regulations in an effort to trim ozone pollution. WildEarth Guardians said in its 25-page petition filed earlier this week that large cities throughout the West have already violated clean air standards limiting ozone and the problem is spreading to rural areas, including northwestern New Mexico and western Wyoming. "The Western states are facing an unprecedented challenge in addressing the impacts of ozone air pollution. For the sake of public health, it is a challenge that must be met aggressively," Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardian's climate and energy program director, wrote in the petition. Ground-level ozone, a key component of smog, forms when emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks mix with sunlight. The colorless gas can irritate the respiratory system, reduce lung capacity and aggravate asthma. WildEarth Guardians is asking the EPA to force New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming to revise their air quality regulations to strengthen ozone safeguards by 2013....