VALENTINE Neb. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Obama Administration's sweeping proposal to further tighten ground-level ozone standards:
"Today's announced plans by the Obama Administration to dramatically increase ozone regulations means more federal burdens passed on to hardworking American families, as utilities and businesses struggle with new compliance costs," Fischer said. "This proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the potential of being the most expensive regulation in our nation's history at a time when American families are already struggling to pay the bills. Utilities can't control energy costs and businesses can't grow and hire more employees when they are faced with crushing federal regulations. Stricter standards could also expose urban areas like Omaha that currently comply with federal clean air standards to harsh regulations on a wide range of activities, including new and existing industry growth, as well as transportation improvements.
"The president has already admitted that similar proposals led to regulatory burdens and uncertainty. As the EPA plans to impose harsh limits on many of the nation's power plants and attempts to stretch its authority to over virtually all water in the United States, a damaging new ozone regulation is the last thing we need."
The proposal, issued today by the EPA, would reduce the allowable concentration of ground-level ozone from 75 parts per billion, set in 2008, to between 65 and 70 parts per billion. The Administration is also seeking comments on a plan that would lower the standard to 60 parts per billion. Such a rule would likely require industrial facilities across the country, including many in Nebraska, to install expensive ozone control equipment, limit production, or buy "offsets," which would stifle economic growth.
In 2011, the EPA issued a similar proposal, which it estimated could cost businesses and utilities upwards of $90 billion each year. President Obama withdrew the 2011 proposal, citing the need to "underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty."
Fischer is a cosponsor of Senator John Thune's (R-S.D.) CASE Act (S. 2833) requiring 85 percent of current non-attainment counties to achieve compliance with existing air quality requirements before EPA can lower ozone standards across the country. It would also require the EPA to consider the costs and feasibility of the lower standard, which the EPA currently does not do.
