U.S. Chamber Comments on EPA’s Particulate Matter Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Vice President for Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Affairs Bill Kovacs released the following statement today after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that lowers the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 from 15 µm/m3 to 12 µm/m3.

“This revised PM2.5 NAAQS imposes burdensome new requirements on states, cities, and businesses. Changes to monitoring requirements under the new rule could lead to a significant increase in the number of nonattainment areas.  More nonattainment areas translate into a heavier administrative burden on states and cities, as well as devastating effects on local economies.  A nonattainment designation is tantamount to a cap on new business development.

“EPA has ignored repeated expressions of concern by industry, including the Chamber, that the agency must not rush to issue this rule.  Despite EPA’s acknowledgment that the complexity of the rule required a year-long review, EPA took less than six months to finalize the rule.  EPA engaged in result-oriented rulemaking to justify the most restrictive air quality standards ever issued.”