Regional ozone enforcement under fire
Environmental regulators and pulp and paper industry representatives want to exit a regional ozone emission program that they said puts an unfair burden on industrial businesses in Maine, where emissions are relatively low.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported supporters and opponents of an effort to exempt Maine from the 13-state Ozone Transportation Region program’s anti-smog measures faced off in a hearing Tuesday as part of a public comment process that ends Sept. 20.
Marc Cone of the Department of Environmental Protection’s Air Quality Bureau testified that the terms of the program treat the entire region, which extends from Northern Virginia to Maine, as if it were not meeting federal emissions standards. Maine by itself meets those standards and forcing industrial businesses to pay offset credits based on emissions totals across the entire region is unfair, Cone said. Pulp and paper industry representatives said during the hearing that the regulations are costly and hinder their growth.
Supporters of regional enforcement of the program said Maine's departure from the program would send the wrong message about the state's stance on regional pollution and cautioned that such a move could trigger other states in the region to leave as well. And pollution blowing in from those other states is the primary cause of Maine’s periodic high ozone levels, Cone said.
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