Barack Obama announces plans to tackle air pollution

US president Barack Obama has outlined plans to tighten up rules on air pollution around industrial facilities.

The administration has laid out tough new standards for soot emissions, which are dangerous microscopic pollution emitted by factories, power plants, diesel vehicles and other sources.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the body behind the plans, has stated that the current annual exposure standard of 15 micrograms per cubic metre would be cut down to between 12 and 13.

While the decision will be welcomed by those with an environmental hat on, it is unlikely to go down well oil companies big major industries, especially with the presidential election on the horizon.

Lobbyists for oil companies and other industries have already expressed their view that the administration should maintain the current standards or risk tougher rules taking an economic toll.

However, the EPA said that various Clean Air Act rules will help go a long way towards ensuring that new soot standards are met.

"Ninety-nine per cent of U.S. counties are projected to meet the proposed standards without undertaking any further actions to reduce emissions," it said in a statement.

It also revealed that it would look to finalise the new legislation by mid-December after a public comment period takes place. It said costs of compliance will be far outweighed by what they stand to save when it comes to healthcare.

The EPA believes that the new rules will cost companies between $2.9m (£1.84m) and $69m a year to comply with but will deliver reductions in healthcare bills worth between $88m and $5.9bn a year.

This perceived low cost of compliance was because just six counties in the country are currently in breach of the new tighter standards.

Despite this, National Association of Manufacturers chief executive officer, Jay Timmons, said the changes would have a big impact on industry.

In a statement, he said: "The scope and damaging impact the EPA’s new standard will have on manufacturers across the country, both large and small, is troubling."