Ozone ruling to affect Lafayette

• By RICHARD BURGESS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: May 6, 2008 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — Lafayette Parish could face stricter pollution limits in coming years when the federal government toughens air quality standards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in March it will lower the limit for ozone pollution.

The change is expected to shift most metropolitan areas in Louisiana into a “non-attainment” classification that brings with it mandates to cut emissions from vehicles and factories.

The five-parish region around Baton Rouge is the only area out of attainment with the current anti-smog standards, but the new requirements could add another 21 parishes to that list, including Lafayette and neighboring St. Martin, according to preliminary research by the state Department of Environmental Quality.

“Using current data, we would be placed … in non-attainment,” said Ashley Moran, a traffic planner with Lafayette City-Parish Government who discussed the new standards Monday with a transportation policy committee.

Areas out of compliance with the new standards could face measures ranging from more expensive reformulated gasoline and emission inspections for all vehicles to pollution caps for industry and stringent reviews of road projects.

In Lafayette, any new restrictions are expected to be minor because the area is projected to be only marginally out of compliance with the new standards.

“The closer you are to the standards, generally the less you have to do,” DEQ Air Quality Assessment Division Administrator Jennifer Mouton said.

Mouton also said that because Lafayette is close to meeting the new standard, some behavior changes over the next two years could lower ozone pollution enough to escape non-attainment when the EPA applies the new standards in 2010.

Lafayette has few major industrial polluters, so the ozone issues are believed to be linked to gasoline engines, and any solution would call for less driving and more attention to pollution from gasoline-powered lawn equipment.

“Probably what we are seeing is a lot of transportation,” Mouton said.

Suggestions for ozone reduction from DEQ include carpooling, biking or walking more, eating lunch at the office rather than driving out and waiting until later in the day to mow the grass or use other gas-powered lawn equipment.

The time of the day is critical because ozone is formed when certain pollutants react with sunlight.