by Kevin Zimmermann
(WHBL) – On Monday the Environmental Protection Agency announced that the shoreline area of Sheboygan County now meets federal air quality standards for ground-level ozone, joining the inland area that received compliance attainment earlier this year.
EPA official Anne Idsal Austin said that such environmental progress is made possible by strong state, local and federal partnerships, and is a tangible sign that America’s air quality is improving. Recent monitoring data show both Inland and shoreline areas of the county are now meeting 2008 standards for low-level ozone. The official notification of compliance was published in the Federal Register last Friday.
County Administrator Adam Payne praised efforts by the County Chamber, the Wisconsin DNR, community leaders and state and federal legislators to change interpretations of the Clean Air Act that kept non-attainment in place, despite monitoring data that showed that pollution was transported across Lake Michigan from elsewhere, resulting in unfair and punitive regulations being emplaced here.
Attainment now means relaxed regulation on businesses, and could eventually affect the requirements for vehicle emissions testing.
