JOC Staff | Dec 14, 2012 2:40PM EST
The National Association of Manufacturers’ President and CEO Jay Timmons today said in a released statement that the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter is a display of the agency’s “shortsightedness.”
The EPA today finalized an update to its national air quality standards for harmful fine particle pollution, setting the annual health standard at 12 micrograms per cubic meter.
“This new standard will crush manufacturers’ plans for growth by restricting counties’ ability to issue permits for new facilities, which makes them less attractive for new business,” Timmons said. “Essentially, existing facilities will have to be shuttered for new facilities to be built in these areas.”
The NAM urged the EPA to retain the current standard of 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
