Washington, D.C. – Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone:
Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas): “We all want healthy communities and a clean environment. But more job-killing mandates from Washington are not the solution. The EPA’s new ozone regulations could be the most expensive ever. Yet the EPA has ignored the law that requires a thorough analysis of the regulation’s negative impacts. Most of the benefits EPA claims are based on data that is concealed from the public and independent scientists. At a time when 90 percent of Americans agree that studies and data used to make federal government decisions should be public, the EPA refuses to listen. The House of Representatives last week sent a strong message when it passed the Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 that would require the EPA’s regulations to be based on public information. Hardworking American families deserve transparency and accountability. But the EPA makes back-room deals with environmental special interest groups pushing an extremist political agenda.”
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