Chamber of Commerce seeks to block lawsuit to further lower ozone standard

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently filed a motion to intervene with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in response to a lawsuit that would further lower the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone.

Joined by other national business groups, the chamber’s motion would oppose the lawsuit, which was brought against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to the 70 ppb standard the agency set in 2015. While the environmental groups bringing that lawsuit seek to force the EPA to lower it further, the chamber is in the midst of another lawsuit seeking to raise the EPA’s standard.

“As our own lawsuit details, the EPA’s 70 ppb mandate is unattainable for many communities and will stifle economic expansion opportunities in areas across the country,” Chamber Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs SVP William Kovacs said. “The even more stringent standard sought by these special interest groups would force a far greater number of cities and counties into EPA’s economic ‘penalty box,’ and would be devastating to American business. The chamber will continue to push back against unreasonable regulatory overreach from the EPA and third-party litigants.”