One of President Trump’s campaign promises includes bringing manufacturing back to our shores. An effective way to accomplish that goal is to correct policies that make manufacturing in the U.S. challenging. For instance, the Biden-era rule regulating National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) needs to be repealed.
The Clean Air Act requires an air quality review every five years. But in an unprecedented maneuver, the previous administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated an additional review of NAAQS for PM2.5 merely 33 days after the 2020 one was completed under its predecessor. The 2020 version had deemed current levels of 12 micro grams per cubic meter (mg/m3) perfectly adequate to protect public health; no changes were needed and no changes were made. Biden’s unwarranted review, however, lowered the standard to 9 mg/m3.
If left untouched, this regulation could have dire consequences.
According to an Oxford Economics report, reducing the PM2.5 standard would result in a loss of up to nearly $200 billion in economic activity and put approximately 900,000 current jobs at risk. A study by NERA Economic Consulting found that stricter ozone regulations could reduce U.S. GDP by $270 billion per year and a cumulative $3.4 trillion from 2017 to 2040 while also resulting in 2.9 million fewer jobs or job equivalents per year on average through 2040.
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Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.theamericanconsumer.org or follow us on Twitter @ConsumerPal.