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WASHINGTON — Levels of nitrogen dioxide, a smog-causing air pollutant, have dropped by 80 percent in Ohio and 74 percent nationwide in the last few years, an Environmental Protection Agency report released Thursday said.

Nitrogen dioxide combines with other pollutants in the presence of sunlight to form ground-level ozone, or smog.

The report showed a significant decrease in levels in nitrogen dioxide in 19 eastern states, and the District of Columbia, that chose to participate in EPA's pollution credit trading program. The results in Ohio, though, were among the most drastic. The other states that showed significant progress are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Under the EPA's "cap-and-trade" credit system, plant owners in participating states are allowed a certain amount of emissions and, if they want to exceed them, they must buy the extra emissions from another operator in the Clean Air Commodity markets.

"The proof is in the numbers. By cutting smog-forming emissions, 55 million Americans in the eastern United States are breathing easier thanks to President Bush's clean air policies," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. Nitrogen dioxide reductions "are not just good news for the health of our environment and the health of our residents, they are good news for the health of our economy."

Environmental groups also applauded the EPA's efforts.

"Historically, Ohio has been a part of the nitrogen dioxide belt, thanks to the coal-fired power plants," said Jack Shaner, public affairs director of the Ohio Environmental Council, a Columbus-based nonprofit that has lobbied in the past for strict regulations against the power plants.

The plant owners responded to cap-and-trade regulations when they were first introduced in 1998 with a lawsuit, Shaner said. The EPA won the case and the new regulations were put in place.

Shaner said that Ohio has 27 coal-fired power plants that provide the bulk of nitrogen dioxide emissions. Other sources of nitrogen dioxide include motor vehicles, electric utilities and other commercial and residential sources that burn fuels.

The results, many say, are due to EPA's persistent efforts to bring down these emissions since 1990, when more stringent rules were added to the Clean Air Act.

The EPA's cap and trade system "helped us a lot," said Linda Fee Oros, the spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.