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Today, Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH) and Congressman Gene Green (D-TX) led a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy regarding the Agency’s proposed rule on ozone standards.

Over 130 colleagues joined Congressman Latta in the bipartisan letter to Administrator McCarthy, asking her to consider the consequences of a revision to EPA’s current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) from the current standard of 75 parts per billion (ppb) - which states are only just beginning to implement - to a level between 65-70ppb.

The letter calls on the EPA to “allow time for the benefits of the current ozone standard to become effective by retaining the current ozone standard.”

 “Just as the previous revisions to the NAAQS standards are currently being implemented in counties across the country, the EPA proposed new standards that are overly burdensome, technically unattainable and deficiently demonstrative of providing any environmental or public health benefits,” said Latta. “Since the rule was initially proposed last year, we have heard expert testimony confirming even the possibility of this rule being implemented is proving detrimental to our workforce’s growth and our economy as a whole. The National Association of Manufacturers projects that EPA’s proposal could reduce the U.S. GDP by $140 billion annually, and eliminate 1.4 million job equivalents per year.  Overall compliance costs could exceed $1 trillion, making this proposal the most expensive regulation in U.S. history. The impact to Ohio would be especially significant, with projections of over 22,000 lost jobs and $22 billion in Gross State Product Loss from 2017 to 2040.”   

The U.S. EPA initially established an ozone standard in 1971, and subsequently revised the standard in 1979, 1997, and 2008. Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants, including ground-level ozone. The current standard, set in 2008, established an 8-hour standard of 75 parts per billion (ppb), replacing a 1997 standard equivalent to 84 ppb.

“The EPA’s own data indicates that U.S. ozone precursor emissions have been cut in half since 1980 - reducing ozone in the air by 33%. Without  allowing sufficient time for existing measures to take hold, the EPA is now proposing standards so stringent that 2,110 counties - 67% of the country -would fail them, essentially creating a nation of nonattainment areas including the entire state of Ohio,” Latta continued. “The proposed standards are so low that some parts of the country could fall into nonattainment even if all human activity in the area were to cease.  Indeed, both Yosemite and the Grand Canyon National Parks would be in violation of the EPA’s proposed standards.”

“It very much appears the administration is using the Clean Air Act to target specific industries, and certainly, if this rule is implemented, the negative consequences would be felt by American workers and consumers across the board. These rules would effectively stifle the incredible advances we have made in the energy, manufacturing and chemical sectors, and eliminate great opportunities for our future economic growth.” 

More:

Letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy (LINK)

Full Study: Assessing Economic Impacts of a Stricter National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone (LINK)

Study: What Could Ozone Regulations Cost Ohio? (LINK)