The Obama administration will unveil new limits on smog pollution bringing the US up to par with public health standards in other industrialised countries.
The Environmental Protection Agency is under a court-ordered deadline to propose new rules for ground-level ozone by 1 December. The New York Times reported that the announcement would come on Wednesday.
The new standards represent a victory for public health and environment groups which had sued the Obama administration for rejecting stricter controls for political reasons.
“It’s a big task for the president, an opportunity to fix a past mistake,” said Paul Billings, a senior vice-president at the American Lung Association, one of the groups which brought the suit. “I think he is feeling emboldened to make some legacy moves here.”
The Republican leadership in Congress and industry groups have already indicated they intend to try to overturn the rules, as they believe them too costly for industry.
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