U.S. Chamber accuses EPA of misleading public on pollutants, costs

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report on Thursday that is critical of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) data and recommendations on pollutants and the costs associated with regulating them.

Released as the EPA is facing criticism on several fronts over a proposed rule that would allow it to regulate specific pollutants, the report said the EPA failed to communicate to the public that the benefits achieved by past regulations, including the Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) rule, were the result of reductions in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions.

"For too long, EPA has simply told the public that the high cost of a billion-dollar rule is offset by even higher benefits, without justifying its approach or exploring alternatives," Bill Kovacs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president for the environment, technology and regulatory affairs, said. "For the American public to have confidence that EPA is choosing the right level of regulatory protection, we need more information about why the agency chose one level of stringency over other alternatives available to it.”

The report makes several recommendations for increased EPA transparency, two of which are that Congress should enact the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015 and the EPA should provide cost-per-ton analyses and detailed discussions of regulatory alternatives.