The House of Representatives has passed the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017 (HR 806), which balances air quality with sound regulatory processes. The legislation would prevent a rushed implementation of the 2015 ozone Nation Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). AWC urges the Senate to move quickly to pass a common-sense approach that will also support global competitiveness for the wood products industry.
Currently under the Clean Air Act, at least every five years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must update its assessment of the latest science and consider whether any changes are needed to NAAQS for criteria pollutants. EPA missed its review deadline of the 2008 rule for ozone in 2013, highlighting that this timeframe is insufficient. The bill’s proposed switch to a 10-year NAAQS review cycle is an important improvement adding certainty.
EPA had announced a one-year delay in implementing the ozone NAAQS earlier this year, as it considered whether states needed more time to make non-attainment designations. Last month, EPA reversed position on the delay and is now letting the 2015 NAAQS rule move forward before the 2008 rule has been fully implemented. According to EPA’s own analysis, the cost impact of a new rule will be more than $15 billion annually, making it one of the most expensive air rules ever. Although under current law EPA cannot consider cost when setting NAAQS (only during implementation), health effect evidence has not changed significantly since 2008 to justify the tighter requirements.
Air quality has gotten significantly better over the last several years and will continue to improve due to other EPA rules even if the ozone NAAQS is not changed. Deferring compliance with the 2015 ozone NAAQS until 2025, as the legislation proposes, allows accounting for these air quality gains and avoids unnecessary controls in or near areas that will meet the standard anyway, but not quickly enough.
Constantly changing air quality requirements creates a repeating need for capital investment to meet changing requirements, as well as significant uncertainty for new mill investments that are critical to global competitiveness. As ozone limits are driven toward what is essentially equivalent to background levels in some parts of the country, especially considering the significant role of international sources of emissions, it will also be driving companies to cancel job-creating projects. And with other NAAQS reviews pending, such as for fine particulate matter, the situation only gets worse.