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 it will tighten its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone from the current 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb.
Chairman Smith: “Protecting health and promoting economic growth are not mutually exclusive goals. Over the last several years, ozone levels have steadily decreased without new strict federal mandates. This rule could be the most expensive regulation ever imposed on the American public. It will put millions of Americans out of work and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars. And it will most impact financially vulnerable families who already struggle to find employment and pay their bills.
“The EPA has continually ignored experts and stakeholders to impose its job-killing regulatory agenda on hardworking American families. The EPA did not base its new ozone standard on sound science and has failed to provide this committee with the data it uses to justify this rule.”