WASHINGTON - Today, Western Caucus Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), and Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01) led 111 House Republicans in demanding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinds the recently finalized rule for the National Ambient Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
“The U.S. has some of the best air quality in the world, and thanks to collaboration with industry leaders committed to being good stewards of our environment, it’s only getting better,” said Western Caucus Vice Chair Bruce Westerman. “The EPA’s unnecessary decision to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter was not made with the best interests of the environment in mind and will bring this progress to a halting stop. These onerous new standards will be logistically impossible for critical industries to execute successfully and will result in the loss of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity. I’m proud to lead this effort, alongside Dan Newhouse and Buddy Carter, to call on the EPA to immediately rescind this job-killing rule.”
“EPA’s recent NAAQS rule is an unnecessary change that puts American manufacturing, forestry, and other industries at risk,” said Western Caucus Chairman Newhouse. “America already has stringent clean air standards and ranks top 20 globally in air quality. This new standard only serves to hamper prosperity across the country for negligible benefits while forcing businesses to close, increasing manufacturing costs, and inflicting harm to communities across the country. As Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I’m proud to help lead this effort in urging EPA to rescind this rule and restore prosperity to rural America.”
“The Biden administration’s irresponsible and unnecessary PM2.5 standard is a death knell for vital US industries, including manufacturing and timber. As the representative from the #1 forestry state in the nation and a district that is seeing a manufacturing boom, that is deeply concerning," said House Energy and Commerce Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Buddy Carter. "America has the best environmental standards and wonderful economic potential. We must maintain both by working with industry leaders to enact practical NAAQS reforms that build on the Clean Air Act’s 40-year history of successfully improving air quality nationwide.”
The full letter can be found here.
Westerman, Newhouse, Allen urge EPA to halt release of Onerous NAAQS Proposal
WASHINGTON - Today, Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) Western Caucus Vice-Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04), and Congressman Rick Allen (GA-12) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan urging the agency to halt its release of updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter.
The letter reads, “It is our understanding that you are finalizing an update to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and plan to release the update imminently. We write to express our grave concerns with your agency’s proposal and urge you to halt its release.
“We joined a letter alongside 70 of our colleagues in October of 2023 urging the EPA to withdraw the costly and unnecessary proposal and review the PM2.5 NAAQS under the Clean Air Act’s regular review cycle. To date, we have not received a response to that letter.
“With nearly 700,000 comments received on the proposal in the Federal Register last year, it is clear that this will have an enormous impact on nearly every industry. Last October, over 70 manufacturing organizations sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients, outlining their concerns with the proposal, and warning of the negative economic impacts that would be caused by its implementation.
“The United States boasts some of the cleanest air in the world today according to Yale University’s Environmental Performance. As Members that represent states with robust timber industries, we know firsthand the extensive benefits that the forestry sector and forest products industry have on the environment and the economy. The forest products industry would be severely impacted by the implementation of this proposal. Nationwide, at nine micrograms, nearly 80% of the sawmill and papermill improvement projects over the last five years would have failed to meet their air permits.
“We urge you to halt the release of the finalized update and review the NAAQS under the regular five-year review schedule.”
Click here to view the full letter.