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08/31/2011

NAM Tells White House to Halt Harmful EPA Ozone Standard

On August 16, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons led a delegation of trade association leaders in a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone.

The EPA's proposal would change the current ozone standard from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to a range from 60 ppb to 70 ppb. The EPA plans to set this new standard just two years after announcing the 75 ppb standard in 2008. Timmons outlined the NAM's concerns that the standard will create more uncertainty for manufacturers and increase compliance costs for each state, which will hurt job growth. Daley recognized the NAM for its leadership on the issue.

Several other key Administration officials participated in the meeting, including Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein and EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Gina McCarthy.

Last week, 35 state and business associations, including the NAM, sent a letter to President Obama urging him to stop the EPA's discretionary reconsideration of the standard. This week, the NAM joined the Coalition for American Jobs in an advertising campaign to oppose the ozone reconsideration. The advertisements will run on television, radio and in newspapers in cities President Obama visited during his bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois this week.

For more information, visit www.NoNewRegs.org or click here to watch the NAM's video. The NAM also urges manufacturers to e-mail the President and oppose this expensive and unnecessary proposal. 

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