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ST. LOUIS COUNTY — After several years of no improvement in St. Louis area’s air quality, the region is facing tighter environmental restrictions that could mean more red tape for polluters in order to cut back on smog that is particularly harmful to children, the elderly and outdoor workers.

But the stricter regulations, pushed through in the last days of President Joe Biden’s administration, face an uncertain future under President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency and pushback from Missouri Republicans.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has already sued in federal court to challenge the rules meant to curb harmful ozone pollution in St. Louis, the only region of the state affected by the regulations. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

The tighter rules are already forcing more industrial companies to apply for emission permits from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and motorists in counties surrounding St. Louis aren’t likely to see an end to vehicle emission tests any time soon.

But the American Lung Association warned in that air quality in the St. Louis region is getting worse. The number of days with unhealthy levels of ozone ticked up to 10.5 days a year, up from six days a year in their prior report. Laura Turner, advocacy director for the American Lung Association in St. Louis, called the EPA’s work “incredibly important.�

“Unfortunately, too many people in the Greater St. Louis area are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution,� Turner said in a statement. “This air pollution is a threat to human health at every stage of life — from increasing the risk of premature birth and low birth weight babies to causing or worsening lung disease.�

St. Louis is one of several large metro areas around the country that face restrictions due to high ozone levels, which are caused by vehicle emissions, power plants and industrial sources that bake in the sun during the summer months. It was one of several metro areas the outgoing Biden administration reclassified as “serious� for ozone pollution, along with cities such as Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee.

Still, pollution here is far lower than in places like Los Angeles, where traffic and constant sunshine mean ozone levels are unhealthy for almost half the year.

Levels in St. Louis and around the country have fallen sharply in the past 30 years — St. Louis had nearly 50 days with unhealthy ozone levels in the mid-’90s. But a decade ago, President Barack Obama’s administration tightened the national standards for ozone levels to 70 parts per billion, from 75 parts per billion.

At the time, readings at St. Louis-area air monitors were just over the new standard, and many at the EPA and elsewhere expected rules on other pollution, cleaner cars and more electric vehicles to do much of the work attaining the new limits. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments, a group of area leaders that oversees road funding and other regional issues, even asked the state to ask EPA to declare St. Louis in compliance with federal ozone limits back in early 2022.

But St. Louis ozone levels haven’t improved since then, and some air monitors in the region began recording slightly higher levels than those around five years ago, according to DNR data.

Missouri DNR officials, during a public hearing on the new rules Thursday at the St. Louis County Department of Public Health in Berkeley, pointed out that higher ozone readings in St. Louis that triggered the EPA’s move are three-year averages that include 2023, when Canadian wildfire smoke drifted into the region. Annual readings can also vary based on weather patterns, including wind and heat, they said.

Some scientists have said that rising temperatures due to climate change can also make it harder to reduce ozone pollution because more hot days can make more of the smog even if emissions decline. The EPA moved to redesignate St. Louis mainly because it failed to meet the new standard, said Mark Leath, air quality planning section chief with DNR.

“It’s that it’s taken too long,� Leath said. “It’s not that the air has actually gotten worse.�

Regardless, the redesignation of St. Louis as a “serious� ozone nonattainment area has already triggered new requirements for emission permits for industrial sources of nitrous oxide and volatile organic compounds, key ingredients of ozone. Previously, any plants that emitted more than 100 tons per year of those pollutants needed to apply for operating permits. Now, it is 50 tons per year. Limits triggering review of new industrial sources are also stricter.

Kendall Hale, DNR’s air permitting chief, called the changes “significant� for industry and regulators, and he said DNR is still reaching out to industrial operators that may need to apply for new permits due to the change.

Roger Walker, executive director of Regform, which helps Missouri’s businesses comply with environmental regulations, said he has heard somewhere around 60 sources could be impacted by the new permitting requirements. He questioned why the new requirements were necessary given how close St. Louis is to attainment of the limits.

“If they’re not having an environmental impact, then why are you doing it?� Walker said. “To me, it’s not an environmental issue because there hasn’t been any degradation. Air quality’s gotten better for 40 years.�

‘Bureaucrats make the rules’

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann expressed his frustration at the new designation during a January meeting of East-West Gateway Council of Governments, when the regional group’s staff briefed area leaders on the change.

“We’re not doing any worse than we were before, but they’ve moved the goal post,� Ehlmann said.

Mary Grace Lewandowski, East-West Gateway’s director of community planning, acknowledged the standard was tightened in 2015 but said “scientific studies continue to indicate the harm of ozone at even lower and lower concentrations.�

Ehlmann asked whether there was even any evidence that the region was faring worse on health outcomes. Lewandowski replied that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does track emergency room visits for respiratory conditions and its data indicates increased visits.

“Is that because more people have health insurance or because more people are sick?� Ehlmann retorted.

Ehlmann represents a county that was almost exempted from vehicle emissions tests in 2021. But Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a fellow Republican, vetoed the law that would have ended emission tests in St. Charles County and two other suburban counties out of fear it could invite sanctions on state transportation funding from the federal government.

Now, Ehlmann said he hopes decision ending a longtime court precedent allowing deference to experts in regulatory bodies on federal rules could lead to the overturn of the new ozone rules for St. Louis.

“Not only do they let the bureaucrats make the rules, but they let the bureaucrats change the goals,� he said.

Sanctions possible

In addition to suing over the new rules for St. Louis, the Missouri attorney general’s office also petitioned EPA to stop the rules. EPA said it would reconsider the rule change but declined to halt its implementation.

Even if the Trump EPA moves to reclassify St. Louis, a lawsuit from an environmental or health group could prompt a judge to reinstate it, industry and regulators say. The uncertainty is worst for companies planning a new project, said Walker, of Regform.

DNR faces a Jan. 1 deadline for a state plan to cut ozone pollution. Leath, with the state agency, said Missouri could face sanctions if it doesn’t move forward with the plan.

“We have to do it,� he said. “We need to be prepared.�