After deferring a vote on the issue last month, the Metro Council at its meeting this afternoon will again take up a resolution to formally oppose changes to Federal Air Quality Standards being proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The resolution has the support of industry representatives, who helped craft the language, but not environmental groups, who urge that the basic premise of the resolution—that stricter standards will kill jobs—is false.
The proposed standards would lower air quality requirements from 75 parts per billion to as low as 65 ppb. Baton Rouge has struggled to achieve compliance with standards since the 1970s, only falling into an acceptable classification last April. Councilman Buddy Amoroso, who is sponsoring the item, says industry representatives requested some tweaks to the resolution.
“There were some areas that weren’t in line,” and the final resolution is more streamlined, Amoroso says. Language asking the EPA to approve more lenient policies on the transfer of credits was removed, and language was added to express the value of coal plants and the potential negative effects of the lower standards on utility costs.
The resolution cites a study produced by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry that claims the lower standards would cost the state $189 billion in compliance costs and result in a loss of $53 billion in gross state product between 2017 and 2040. Over the same period, the study says, Louisiana is set to gain 25,000 jobs, but could lose 117,000 if the new standards are implemented.
In a letter to the council, Marylee Orr, executive director of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, writes that lower standards would create demand for more jobs in the environmental technology sector. Though the resolution urges that industry has done nearly all it can to remediate pollution, Orr writes that Toxic Release Inventory data tracked by the EPA shows Louisiana companies pollute more than their counterparts in Texas and New Jersey.
Orr also writes that improved air quality will help keep workers healthy, resulting in less sick days and less health costs for businesses. Orr tells Daily Report her organization was not contacted about language in the resolution, but that LEAN will speak against the measure at this afternoon’s meeting.
The Metro Council will meet at 4 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda.
—Kelly Connelly
