The National Association of Manufacturers has moved to intervene in a lawsuit that challenges the Obama administration’s ozone standard.
The new rule, issued in the fall, limits ground-level ozone to 70 parts per billion from 75 ppb.
“As the courts debate the legality of this new regulation, manufacturers are already feeling the impacts of this overly burdensome and unworkable rule,” says NAM senior vice president and general counsel Linda Kelly. “This could be one of the most expensive regulations in history, creating significant barriers to manufacturers’ ability to open new plants and expand existing operations. As the administration continues to pile regulations on our nation’s manufacturers, we will continue to challenge these overreaching rules in court.”
The EPA says the updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards will reduce the public’s exposure to ozone pollution and says the public health benefits of the updated standards, estimated at $2.9 to $5.9 billion annually in 2025, outweigh the estimated annual costs of $1.4 billion.
While the new smog standards aren’t as stringent as they could have been — the EPA originally proposed strengthening the air quality standards to within a range of 65 ppb to 70 ppb while taking comment on a level as low as 60 ppb — NAM immediately issued a statement calling the rule “overly burdensome, costly and misguided.”
Photo Credit: smog via Shutterstock
