Attorney generals from Kentucky and West Virginia are leading 24 GOP states in a lawsuit challenging a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) setting more stringent regulations against soot pollution, citing concerns that higher limits will force American companies to have to outsource manufacturing jobs overseas.
The new standard, announced on Feb. 7, reduces the maximum level of permissible soot pollution from the Obama-era’s 12 micrograms down to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air. According to the EPA, the rule is predicted to save lives and estimated to help prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays in 2032.
The stricter rule won support from environmental group leaders, such as non-profit Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen, who believes that soot is a “killer” that is helping to drive up cases of heart disease, asthma, and other serious illnesses. According to Ms. Dillen, the new federal standard will save thousands of lives and avoid 800,000 asthma symptom cases each year.
Dr. Doris Browne, 118th President of the National Medical Association, also praised the new standard, saying it is the first step to “curb soot pollution—a dangerous and even deadly pollutant that has taken an oversized toll on underrepresented and overburdened communities less equipped to deal with its severe health impacts.”
However, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, who is leading the lawsuit along with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, believes the new standard will hurt many everyday Americans trying to make a living for their families.
“The EPA’s new rule has more to do with advancing President Joe Biden’s radical green agenda than protecting Kentuckians’ health or the environment,” Mr. Coleman said.
“It will drive jobs and investment out of Kentucky and overseas, leaving employers and hardworking families to pay the price,” he added.
According to the EPA, the new rule doesn’t impose pollution controls on specific industries; it only lowers the annual standard for fine particulate matter for overall air quality. The government agency has said it will use air sampling to identify counties and other areas that do not meet the new standard.
States not meeting the standard would have 18 months to develop compliance plans. Anyone found not meeting the new soot standard by 2032 could face penalties. The EPA claims that 99 percent of counties will be able to meet the revised annual standard by the deadline based on current progress. It did not mention the costs involved in doing so.
However, critics of the regulation disagree that it’s an achievable goal. Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, along with other business groups and the steel industry, have already challenged the new standard. It is currently on hold in at least a dozen states because of court challenges.
Aside from calling the slightly lower soot standard “costly and ineffective,” critics argue that the United States currently has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world. In January, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also claimed that at least 43 percent of total particulate emissions come from wildfires and called the soot standard “the wrong tool to address this problem.”
Kentucky and West Virginia are leading the lawsuit. Joining them in the effort are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times