Federal Spotlight: EPA Ozone Rule Update

The comment period for the EPA’s proposed ozone rule closed last week. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), along with 29 other organizations, submitted several documents to the Federal Register in response to the rule which include:

1. Official comments cosigned by NAM and 29 other organizations
2. A critique of EPA’s Regulatory Impact Analysis – Explains why EPA’s cost estimates are understated
3. NAM’s July 2014 report estimating the economic impacts of a 60 ppb ozone standard
4. NAM’s February 2015 report estimating the economic impacts of a 65 ppb ozone standard.

Additionally, legislation has been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate in response to the EPA rule. The Clean Air, Strong Economies (CASE) Act would prevent the EPA from lowering the ozone standard until most counties are able to comply with the current standard.