President Petersen sues Biden administration's EPA to protect Arizona's citizens and economy from new air quality rule
PHOENIX, ARIZONA— While families across the nation are grappling with inflation and an open border crisis, the Biden Administration is focusing on implementing a new environmental agenda. In response, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma have joined forces with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry in a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The lawsuit aims to stop a new air quality rule from being enacted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA rule, titled "Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter," imposes stringent regulations on fine particles within the air, known as PM 2.5, affecting Maricopa, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties. Sources of PM 2.5 include smoke, vehicle exhaust, emissions from industrial facilities, and energy sources such as power plants. Only 16% of all coarse and fine particles combined come from power generation or other industrial activities; wildfires account for 43% of all particulate matter in the air.
The United States currently has some of the strictest air quality standards globally, stricter than those of the European Union. These standards were first adopted by the Obama Administration and retained by the Trump Administration. The new rule would be more severe and could impact Arizona consumers and businesses significantly.
Potential consequences include:
- Halting new infrastructure construction that would improve safety and travel times for Arizonans.
- Blocking permits for new manufacturing facilities in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties.
- Requiring small businesses to invest in expensive new equipment, with costs passed on to customers.
- Putting up to eight additional counties out of compliance, threatening economic growth.
- Shifting investments in new facilities to countries with less stringent regulations, potentially moving jobs overseas.
"The Biden administration should be rewarding American businesses for being the most environmentally friendly in the world. Instead, they are doubling down on their left-wing agenda. This rule is bad for Arizona, its citizens and our small businesses," said President Petersen. "The EPA should focus on mitigating wildfires, the primary source of this pollution. This rule will create unnecessary hardships for job creators and hardworking Arizonans. It will detrimentally impact our power grid and create even more red tape for both small and large businesses. We have no choice but to ask the courts to provide relief from this tyrannical, arbitrary, and illegal move by the EPA."
For more information:
Kim Quintero
Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus
kquintero@azleg.gov
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