SMOG ALERT

By Dick Thompson/Washington

The Clean-Air Act went a long way toward making the air we breathe cleaner and healthier, but it didn't go far enough. Despite the tons of lead, sulfur dioxide and other combustion products filtered from the atmosphere, millions of Americans suffer from pollution-related breathing disorders, including asthma and bronchitis. In 1993 the American Lung Association sued the Environmental Protection Agency to make it re-evaluate its standards for particulates--very fine dust particles (about one twenty-fifth the diameter of a human hair)--after studies showed that they can lodge deep in the lungs and may contribute to tens of thousands of premature deaths.

Last week, two days before a court-ordered deadline, the EPA made its move. In a decision that EPA chief Carol Browner calls one of the most important of her career, the agency proposed tough new standards on both particulates and ground-level ozone, a major component of smog. The standards will save 20,000 lives a year, according to the EPA. Under the new rules, however, dozens of cities that meet the requirements of the current Clean-Air Act would suddenly fall out of compliance.

The stage is set for what could be the biggest environmental battle of the decade. More than 500 business and local-government groups are fiercely lobbying against the rules, arguing that they would cost billions, are based on dubious research, and would require Americans to change the way they do everything from generating electricity to barbecuing steaks. Opponents are likely to get a sympathetic reception in Congress, which last year gave itself the power to veto such rules.

--By Dick Thompson/Washington. With reporting by Dan Cray/Los Angeles

With reporting by Dan Cray/Los Angeles