In a recent letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), 60 organizations, including Americans for Tax Reform, voiced their opposition to President Obama and the EPA’s recent ozone regulations. The coalition also expressed the need for reform to the rulemaking process for ozone and other pollutants under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
The letter argues that if the current ozone regulations are not reformed, communities and businesses will face a tremendous economic burden. According to the EPA’s own estimates, the regulation will cost an estimated $1.4 billion annually. The EPA has also admitted that the cost of the regulation greatly outweighs the benefits of further ozone reductions. It is abundantly clear the new ozone regulations are all cost and no benefit for American taxpayers.
The EPA and Obama Administration’s efforts to promote the new ozone regulation, touted as “one of the most expensive regulations in history,” have failed to persuade lawmakers. Given the substantial economic impact the ozone regulations are projected to have, it should come as no surprise some in Congress are working to push back against this federal overreach.
As cited in the letter, Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have introduced the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2016 (H.R. 4775, S. 2882), which would help to combat the impact of the ozone regulation and achieve much needed reforms to the NAAQS rulemaking process.
ATR was proud to join the 60 other organizations in supporting Rep. Pete Olson and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s Ozone Standards Implementation Act, and in calling for reforms to the rulemaking process under the NAAQS.
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