The API is today (15 May) a major new television, radio, print and online advertising campaign to urge the Obama administration to keep the current ozone standards rather than implementing new ones. The current standards, set in 2008, are the strictest ever imposed and have yet to be fully implemented.
Howard Feldman, API Senior Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs commented, 鈥渟afeguarding public health is a goal we shall share, and peer reviewed science confirms that current standards protect public health and the environment. The nation鈥檚 air is getting cleaner and will continue to improve as we implement the existing standards. Further tightening of the standards wouldn鈥檛 necessarily improve air quality any faster, but it could significantly impact US jobs and the economy.鈥�
A new standard in the range of 65 鈥� 70 ppb could be the most expensive regulation ever imposed upon the American public, according to a report from NERA Economic Consulting. Lowering the standards to 60 ppb, which the EPA is taking comment on and could promulgate, could cost the US economy US$270 billion /y and place millions of jobs at risk.
鈥淎s proposed, the new standard could impose unachievable emission reduction requirements on virtually every part of the nation, including rural and undeveloped areas. States would have to place new restrictions on businesses of all sizes and add additional bureaucratic red tape to the permitting process for public works projects. These new rules could also prevent communities from improving their infrastructure such as highways or waste treatment facilities.鈥�
Edited from press release by