Businesses, Trade Groups Warn that EPA’s PM NAAQS Proposal Could Significantly Damage the Economy
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The American Petroleum Institute (API) today joined with nearly 90 other trade groups and local businesses spanning the economy in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to walk back its unnecessary proposal to reconsider and tighten the recently promulgated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM).
“The EPA’s current regulations are working, air quality continues to improve, and the United States continues to reduce emissions. Implementation of unprecedented PM standards could significantly damage the economy by imposing unachievable emissions limits and reduction targets on many parts of our country, including rural and undeveloped areas,” the coalition wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
EPA reaffirmed the current PM standards in 2020 and since then there has been no new science that would suggest the need for more stringent regulations. Air quality has improved under the current standards — over the last decade, there has been a 14 percent decrease in national average PM concentrations.
The organizations detailed the significant consequences that EPA’s proposal could have in their communities, including additional compliance burdens that risk limiting the ability of small businesses to expand and create new jobs.
“These standards add red tape to companies seeking to grow, even in areas currently in attainment, especially given how many areas will be in non-attainment with a new, stricter standard. Increased costs associated with restrictive and expensive permit requirements could likely deter companies from siting new facilities in a nonattainment area, making the United States a less attractive place to do business and risking shipping jobs overseas,” the organizations wrote.
The signers include state and local business and trade groups representing industries across the economy, including agriculture, energy, home builders, manufacturing and transportation.
View the letter HERE.
American Petroleum Institute (API) represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, which supports nearly 11 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. Their approximately 600 members produce, process, and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in API Energy Excellence®, which is accelerating environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.
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