25 Michigan Counties Fail new EPA Air Restrictions

[Allan]

ENVIRONMENT: 25 counties fail new smog rules, EPA says

April 16, 2004

Twenty-five Michigan counties fail new, stricter limits on smog, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday.

The designations mean the counties and the state must take measures to reduce pollution.

In southeast Michigan, federal pollution rules will almost certainly require vehicle emissions testing as early as 2007, state officials said.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Steve Chester said he is disappointed the EPA will not adjust the rules to substitute other emissions control measures for auto testing, which he called ineffective in controlling smog.

But he was pleased that western Michigan, which gets most of its smog from upwind industry in Chicago and Milwaukee, was allowed more leeway.

The affected Michigan counties are: Allegan, Berrien, Benzie, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Ingham, Kalamazoo, Kent, Macomb, Mason, Monroe, Oakland, Ottawa, St. Clair, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne, Cass and Muskegon.

By Hugh McDiarmid Jr.