On Thursday, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar joined Senator Jeff Flake in introducing the House version of a Joint Resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act which will block the Environmental Protection Agency’s new ozone regulation published in the Federal Register October 26, 2015.
H.J.RES.74 allows Congress to utilize an expedited process to disprove of major rules and only requires a simple majority vote to pass legislation. Recently, the U.S. Senate successfully utilized the CRA to pass a bill that blocks the EPA’s overreaching Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation.
An updated study commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers projects that this new mandate will reduce U.S. GDP by $1.7 trillion from 2017 to 2040 and kill 1.4 million jobs per year.
“I am pleased that Arizona is on the forefront of fighting back against the EPA’s dangerous overreach. Senator Jeff Flake and I have introduced companion legislation to ensure that the president’s extremist environmental agenda never sees the light of day. If the president and the EPA believe so strongly that their $25 billion per year ozone regulation is what’s best for America, why would they need to circumvent Congress and the American people to implement it? The truth is ozone levels have been reduced by more than 30% since 1980, in part to significant voluntary efforts throughout many industries,” said Gosar in a statment released on Thursday.
“Regardless of President Obama’s resentment of the legislative process, our system of checks and balances is more powerful than his desire to force his will on the American people. The U.S. economy can’t afford a nearly $2 trillion hit to our GDP and the loss of millions of jobs as a result of an unnecessary and overreaching new regulation not based on science. This flurry of new environmental regulations has nothing to do with protecting our environment but rather is about gaining more control over the lives of hard-working Americans,” continued Gosar. “It is far past time that Congress reined in the rogue actions of the EPA. I support continuing commonsense and voluntary efforts to reduce ozone levels, not unachievable mandates that will kill jobs and drive up energy prices for consumers.”
Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association has come out in support of the bill writing that it “strongly” urges the retention of the current ozone standard. “We value clean air and are proud that nationally ozone-forming emissions have been cut in half since 1980, leading to a 33% drop in ozone concentrations. The EPA’s current proposed ozone NAAQS revisions are premature and unnecessary as the agency just updated the ozone standards six years ago and these standards are still being implemented by states,” the organization wrote. “EPA’s stringent ozone standards could limit business expansion in nearly every populated region of the United States and impair the ability of U.S. companies to create new jobs and attract and develop business.”
Arizona’s Generation and Transmission Cooperatives joined in support based on the fact that the “revised ozone standards, if fully implemented, would be the most expensive mandate in our nation’s history.” The organization cited National Association of Manufacturers projections that show the new mandate will reduce U.S. GDP by $1.7 trillion from 2017 to 2040 and kill 1.4 million jobs per year.
Jack Gerard, President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute has said, “Job creation is about to get more difficult in America. New ozone regulations released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will place one-third of U.S. counties out of attainment…Ozone levels have already dropped 18 percent since 2000 even though the current standards haven’t been fully implemented yet…Very costly. Virtually overnight, EPA’s new rule increased the number of counties facing non-attainment status from 217 to 958 – a fourfold increase…Unfortunately, the EPA has chosen to ignore the science and move ahead with unachievable regulations that could be the most costly in history despite ample evidence that new standards are not necessary to protect public health. Further tightening the standards will not improve air quality any faster. What it will do is stifle job growth and harm the economy.”
Gosar bill had 71 original cosponsors including Arizona representatives Trent Franks, Martha McSally, and Matt Salmon.
Senator Jeff Flake introduced the companion bill, S.J.Res.25, with 30 original cosponsors.