EXPERT ALERT

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Mike Williams
713-348-6728
mikewilliams@rice.edu

Rice expert Daniel Cohan available to discuss EPA ozone rules 

HOUSTON – (Sept. 28, 2015) – Daniel Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, is available to discuss this week’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcement of new limits on surface-level ozone pollution.

The EPA is expected to restrict ozone levels to as little as 65 to 70 parts per billion (ppb). Ozone, a primary component of smog, is currently restricted to 75 parts per billion. Backers of the proposal said tighter restrictions will improve public health. Its opponents said the regulations will be prohibitively expensive for industries that will be forced to cut emissions and will harm the economy.

The Obama administration is expected to issue the new rule by Thursday.

“Ozone smog is a potent pollutant that damages crops, harms the lungs and can even cause deaths,” Cohan said. “Health-effects researchers have been finding that ozone can cause damage even at levels that met the older limits.

“Given the substantial health effects of ozone, anything that reduces ozone levels in the air is an important win for health,” he said. “However, what remains to be seen is how the efforts to meet the standards on peak ozone days translate into affecting ozone levels at other times of the year, which are not regulated by these standards.”

Cohan said ozone control efforts have been in limbo for several years as states await a new standard. By finalizing a new standard, he said, the EPA will help provide states with the clarity they need to develop attainment plans.

“Cities such as Houston and Dallas that already violated the 75-ppb standard will need even greater emission reductions to meet the new standards,” Cohan said. “Meanwhile, the tighter new limits will push many other regions into nonattainment for the first time, even as their air is getting cleaner.

“Much of the improvement needed to meet the new standards is already on the way as older cars and trucks are replaced by newer, cleaner ones. However, some cities will need dramatic additional emission reductions to meet the new standards. In some regions, background and transported levels of pollution may make it very difficult for the standards to be met.”

Cohan specializes in the development of photochemical models and their application to air-quality management, energy policy and health-impact studies. He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER young investigator award and a member of the NASA Air Quality Applied Sciences Team.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Cohan, contact Mike Williams, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at mikewilliams@rice.edu or 713-348-6728.

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7.

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Related Materials:

Cohan Research Group: https://cohan.rice.edu

EPA Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone: http://www2.epa.gov/isa/integrated-science-assessment-isa-ozone

Ground-level ozone falling faster than model predicted: https://news2.rice.edu/2013/03/11/ground-level-ozone-falling-faster-than-model-predicted-2/

Image for download:

https://news2.rice.edu/files/2015/09/Dan-Cohan-2012b-small.jpg

Daniel Cohan (Credit: Rice University)

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