WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), the Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, today called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Obama Administration to change course before releasing a new rule to lower the ground-level ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The proposed revised standard is currently under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget and is due out by October 1.
“The EPA’s revised ozone standard threatens to stifle economic growth and negatively impact Hoosier businesses and jobs,” said Coats. “States and counties throughout the country are currently working hard to comply with the current standards. Instead of supporting these ongoing efforts, the EPA is doubling down on its ideologically driven agenda. We need less red tape from Washington and more common-sense policies that will help Hoosiers prosper.”
The EPA’s recommended ozone rule is the most expensive regulation ever proposed and could eliminate 17,000 Indiana jobs per year. The rule will impose $1 billion in total compliance costs on Hoosier businesses and consumers.
Coats, along with 27 other senators, cosponsored The Clean Air, Strong Economies Act of 2015, legislation that would ensure substantial compliance with current ozone standards before the EPA would be able to revise and impose more stringent standards and costs. The bill also will rein in procedures that downplay costs and artificially inflate the benefit of EPA rules.
