The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new ozone regulations Wednesday aimed at drastically cutting smog pollution from power plants and factories.
“Bringing ozone pollution standards in line with the latest science will clean up our air, improve access to crucial air quality information, and protect those most at-risk. It empowers the American people with updated air quality information to protect our loved ones - because whether we work or play outdoors – we deserve to know the air we breathe is safe,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a press release trumpeting the new standards.
“Fulfilling the promise of the Clean Air Act has always been EPA’s responsibility. Our health protections have endured because they’re engineered to evolve, so that’s why we’re using the latest science to update air quality standards – to fulfill the law’s promise, and defend each and every person’s right to clean air.”
Praised by environmental and public health groups and criticized by Republicans and manufactures, the new EPA regulations would lower the threshold for ozone in the U.S. from 75 parts per billion to 65 to 70 parts per billion, sources told The New York Times.
Ozone causes smog, which has been linked to a series of health problems, some in children, including premature death, asthma and heart disease.
“Ozone is not only killing people but causing tens of millions of people to get sick every day,” William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, told The New York Times.
But Republicans and manufacturers criticize the move as an example of the Environmental Protection Agency’s overreach under the Obama Administration.
The National Association of Manufacturers claims in a July study that the regulation “would be the most expensive regulation ever imposed on the American public,” according to Politico.
The study calculated the rule would reduce U.S. gross domestic product by “$3.4 trillion from 2017 to 2040” and cut 2.9 million jobs “per year on average through 2040.”
Leading business groups were also quick to condemn Wednesday’s move.
“The EPA’s proposal to lower the ozone standard will have potentially damaging economic consequences for this country,” said Bill Kovacs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president for the environment, technology and regulatory affairs, in a statement. “This stricter standard will lead to more non-attainment designations across the United States, which translates into restrictions on expansion, permitting delays, increased costs to industry, and an impact to transportation planning.”
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said Wednesday the new regulation “threatens to be the most expensive ever imposed on industry in America and could jeopardize recent progress in manufacturing.
“This new standard comes at the same time dozens of other new EPA regulations are being imposed that collectively place increased costs, burdens and delays on manufacturers, threaten our international competitiveness and make it nearly impossible to grow jobs,” Mr. Timmons added.
But environmentalists generally welcomed the EPA move.
“We generally support the EPA’s range. Especially since they followed very closely the recommendations of their scientific advisers.” said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.
They did what the court asked and what the scientists advised, Mr. Becker said.
“We think their action is appropriate, necessary, follows the science and will yield very significant health benefits,” Mr. Becker said.
This is the EPA’s second attempt to get the ozone regulations through. In 2011 Mr. Obama made the EPA withdraw a version of the rule to underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, the news website reported.
— Mark Pace contributed to this article.
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