The Obama administration will reconsider the controversial Bush-era limits for smog pollution, the Justice Department said today in a court filing.

At issue is the federal standard for airborne ozone, or smog. The George W. Bush administration in 2008 tightened the ozone standard from 84 parts per billion (ppb) to 75 ppb, but that standard came under fire from critics who accused the administration of failing to protect public health and ignoring U.S. EPA's scientific advisers by not setting a stricter limit.

"EPA has determined that it will administratively reconsider this rule," the Justice Department wrote in a document submitted to the court today.

The Justice Department said EPA will reconsider the federal standard for ozone due to concerns about whether the Bush administration's standard satisfies the requirements of the Clean Air Act. The agency plans to issue a proposed rule by Dec. 21 and to sign the final rule by Aug. 31, 2010, the document says.

In March, the Justice Department on behalf of EPA requested that the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia stall legal proceedings in a case where states and environmental and public health groups sued the agency to strengthen its standards for ozone. Industry groups had also sued the agency to weaken its ozone limits.

EPA asked for the extension to allow new officials to review the national air quality standards for ozone and to determine whether the Bush administration's rule "should be maintained, modified, or otherwise reconsidered" (E&ENews PM, March 11).

The court granted the request and ordered EPA to tell the court by today whether it plans to revise the rule and to lay out its schedule for doing so.

Click here to read the submission to the court.