(EPA) Scientists Recommend Tighter Smog Limits - AP

Scientists Recommend Tighter Smog Limits

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

(01-30) 11:29 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Federal scientists want to tighten smog standards, a step that would allow tens
of millions of Americans to breathe easier but also would clash with President
Bush's plan to wean Americans away from gasoline.

More than half the nation, or nearly 160 million people, breathe illegal levels
of smog, mostly in and around major cities in California and the East.

Scientists with the Environmental Protection Agency are due to recommend by
Wednesday a range of options for healthier air. Last year, EPA identified hundreds
of the nation's most populated counties that were polluting the air with too much
smog, and ordered them to clean it up.

What the scientists will recommend has stirred "a great deal of controversy"
within EPA and could complicate Bush's push for more ethanol use, said a senior
government official speaking on condition of anonymity because the announcement
had not yet been made.

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