Indiana Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Clint Woods wrote a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking Administrator Lee Zeldin to make changes to would weaken Northwest Indiana’s ozone regulations.
One Northwest Indiana environmental activist finds the letter unconscionable.
“The reason that they exist in Northwest Indiana is because those communities, like mine, already have elevated levels of health issues that are brought on by ozone, which include ozone-triggering asthma attacks,” said Lisa Vallee, Whiting resident and organizing director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana. “It worsens lung disease, it increases the risk of premature death. These are not small issues — these are huge issues.”
According to Woods’ July 13 letter, he asks the agency to rescind 2023 and 2024 reclassifications of the federal ozone rule. Woods claims in the letter that standards’ emissions impact is insignificant and classification changes have created regulatory burdens statewide.
“It makes me furious,” Vallee said. “Clint Woods, since he became IDEM commissioner, has been trying to change EPA restrictions throughout the state, and it’s obviously glaringly in favor of industry.”
According to the EPA website, in June, the agency proposed revisions to portions of former President Joe Biden’s EPA’s 2025 final rule, which required states to keep certain State Implementation Plan requirements to an area’s prior ozone nonattainment classification under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
“The (President Donald) Trump EPA is proposing to make it so that an area’s current ozone classification, not a previous one, determines the applicable SIP requirements,” the EPA website says. “This proposed change is consistent with the (Clean Air Act) that states an area can only be subject to a single classification at a given time. If finalized, EPA’s state, local, and Tribal air regulatory partners will be given renewed flexibility to better tailor their air quality strategies to current conditions, enhancing protections for human health and the environment, while reducing administrative confusion.”
Woods said in his letter that he supports the changes. He requested a 30-day extension for the EPA’s comment period — which was 30 days — to “secure additional time to evaluate and articulate potential unintended consequences.”
He also urges the EPA to review and eliminate “unnecessary requirements for vehicle inspection & maintenance programs,” arguing that the programs are no longer cost effective in Northwest Indiana, have no measurable impact on air quality, and have been superseded by the widespread use of automotive technology like onboard diagnostic systems.
IDEM declined a Post-Tribune interview request for this story.
Several public interest groups — including Earthjustice, the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund — submitted a 47-page letter to the EPA expressing concerns with the Ozone Reclassification Rule.
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“… the Proposal unlawfully interprets the Clean Air Act’s gradual classification scheme for ozone nonattainment areas in a way that is contrary to the plain language and purpose of the statute,” the letter said.
The groups claim that the EPA’s proposal would go against the Clean Air Act’s requirement that areas falling to meet “health-based ambient air quality standards attain those standards as expeditiously as practicable.” They say it also fails to explain how it’s consistent with the act’s language, structure, history and purpose, and it fails to “provide clarity on what nonattainment plan elements are or are not still required after reclassification.”
Michael Zoeller, senior attorney for Conservation Law Center, said his organization works with the groups that sent the letter to the EPA, but the law center doesn’t get “heavily involved” in national rulemakings.
However, he said the changes would “clearly impact” his clients in northern Lake County, where his work is focused. With Woods’ letter, Zoeller said he agrees with the 30-day comment extension because it’s a significant change.
“Which is a huge problem in northern Lake County and in the region generally,” Zoeller said. “Some people are more sensitive to high ozone levels than others, but it’s clearly a major problem in northern Lake County, and it’s not one that’s getting better.”
Ozone is measured between about March 1 to Oct. 31, Zoeller said, so extending the comment period would give agencies more time to thoroughly study ozone levels, which could help come up with something more balanced nationwide.
Overall, Zoeller said Woods’ letter is consistent with Gov. Mike Braun’s administration’s approach to environmental regulations.
“They’re concerned about the continued economic devastation wrought by the misguided and heavy-handed implementation of the 2015 (National Ambient Air Quality Standards),” Zoeller said. “I take it they mean the economic devastation on industry because nowhere in this letter is there a mention of health impacts of ozone.”
Ozone levels have been elevated in the region in July because of Canadian wildfire smoke, which led to about a week of Air Quality Action Day designations from IDEM. When the ozone levels are high, Vallee said she can’t see fully when driving through Whiting.
“We couldn’t see the steeples on the churches,” Vallee said. “That’s how smoky it was.”
When ozone levels elevate and mix with smoke from local industry, Vallee said that makes conditions worse. Vallee has lupus and asthma, and she said elevated ozone levels make her health conditions worse.
“I had to buy an expensive air purifier for my apartment because I was so scared that even using my window unit for my (air conditioning) would draw in this toxic air,” Vallee said. “I tried not to leave my house. It does impact me in really big ways. I get winded really easily, I have to use my inhaler more, and it makes my lupus flare up. I wake up, and I’m in more pain that I normally would be.”
State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond, expressed concerns with Woods’ letter in a Monday statement. She said Woods is asking the EPA to roll back standards “in the name of regulatory flexibility for polluters.”
“Northwest Indiana has fought for years to improve our air quality,” Jackson said in her letter. “Instead of building on the progress we’ve made to protect the air Hoosiers breathe, this letter asks Washington to take us backward and puts corporate convenience ahead of Hoosier families. … A person’s health is their most valuable commodity, and I’ll always advocate against policies that treat that commodity as expendable.”
Vallee commended Jackson for her advocacy and said she wants other elected officials to do the same for Northwest Indiana’s environment.
“We need everyone talking about this because they live here, too,” Vallee said. “This doesn’t just stay right where I live, or right where people next to the mills live. It moves, and it’s impacting the whole climate of the globe. This is not just a Northwest Indiana issue — this is a humanity issue.”