Freighters pass along the Detroit River with Windsor, Ontario in the background as smoke fills the sky reducing visibility Wednesday, June 28, 2023, as seen from Detroit.
File photo: Freighters pass along the Detroit River with Windsor, Ontario in the background as smoke fills the sky reducing visibility Wednesday, June 28, 2023, as seen from Detroit. The Detroit area has some of the worst air quality in the United States as smoke from Canada's wildfires spreads southward. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Overview:

  • Michigan regulators are seeking EPA approval to redesignate Southeast Michigan as meeting federal ozone standards.
  • The move follows a December court ruling that found the EPA violated the Clean Air Act by redesignating seven Southeast Michigan counties from 'nonattainment' to 'attainment' status.
  • State plans to exclude air monitoring data from days affected by wildfire smoke in 2023 and 2025 to show the region meets federal ozone standards over the last three years.

Michigan regulators will hold a virtual hearing Wednesday on a proposed request to the Environmental Protection Agency to find that Southeast Michigan complies with federal ozone standards, a move that could weaken protections in an area with longstanding air quality problems.

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Why it matters

Weaker ozone protections could increase respiratory problems, asthma attacks, and lung disease for Southeast Michigan residents who already face air quality challenges.

Who's making public decisions

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy could ask the Environmental Protection Agency to find Southeast Michigan complies with federal ozone standards.

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What to watch for next

EGLE will hold a virtual public hearing on the draft addendum at 6 p.m. April 22, after which the agency will decide whether to submit the proposal to the EPA.

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The hearing follows a December decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that found the EPA violated the Clean Air Act when it redesignated seven Southeast Michigan counties from “nonattainment” to “attainment” for federal ozone standards,  a decision that requires additional pollution controls.

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy proposes submitting an addendum to the 2022 redesignation request it made to the EPA. 

Ozone pollution can inflame and damage airways, make the lungs more susceptible to infection, increase the frequency of asthma attacks, and aggravate lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis, according to the EPA.

Elena Saxonhouse, an attorney with Sierra Club, which brought the case against the EPA for the ozone redesignation, previously expressed concern over EGLE’s proposed addendum.

“They have this opportunity to revisit what (they can) do about the pollution problem in southeastern Michigan,” she told Planet Detroit in March. “And they just repeatedly instead go the route of trying to put their heads in the sand and wave it away.”

EGLE will need to show Southeast Michigan has met federal ozone standards over the last three years, which could require tossing out air monitoring from several days, Saxonhouse said.

EGLE spokesperson Josef Stephens said the agency submitted a separate request to remove air monitoring data for several days affected by wildfire smoke in June 2023 and July 2025 from monitors in Oak Park and Port Huron, using the EPA’s exceptional events rule. 

The EPA defines exceptional events as unusual or naturally occurring events that can’t be reasonably controlled by government agencies. Smoke from Canadian wildfires affected ozone data on the days in question, according to EGLE.

Once the public comment period on the ozone addendum closes, the agency will review comments and decide whether to submit the proposal, said spokesperson Josef Stephens.

If the addendum is submitted to the EPA, the federal agency will have 18 months to act on the request, Stephens said.

EGLE’s virtual hearing on the draft addendum will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. Click this link or call 855-758-1310 to attend and use code 847 4896 8640.

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Brian Allnutt is a senior reporter and contributing editor at Planet Detroit. He covers the climate crisis, environmental justice, politics and open space.