U.S. EPA

New federal standards for ground level ozone announced March 12th will strengthen air quality programs in Missouri, according to EPA Region 7 officials. The primary ground-level ozone standard was tightened from 80 parts per billion to 75 parts per billion. EPA Region 7 and the State’ s Department of Natural Resources and cities have been working for years to cut emissions and keep future ground-level ozone levels under the standard. The new primary standard directly impacts the St. Louis metro area (Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties). For the affected areas, the state will monitor ozone levels and submit a recommendation by March 2009 on whether they believe the area will continue to violate the standards and should be designated a nonattainment area by EPA.

EPA Standards for Region 7