WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will narrow its final particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter, an unattainable standard for many areas across the country. This new standard would be devastating to many industries throughout the west.
“This administration has proven time and time again that it will stop at nothing to pander to climate change activists, even at the expense of Wyoming and western workers,” said Lummis. “The Biden administration’s new and unattainable air quality standard will limit development across the country, threaten millions of jobs and sideline the U.S. economy at a time when our national debt has already reached alarming heights. I’m very disappointed the EPA has rushed to move forward with this unrealistic standard and encourage this administration to scale back this unfair attack on American industry.”
In September 2023, Senator Lummis joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and 21 of her colleagues in urging the EPA to rescind its proposed PM2.5 national ambient air quality standard.
She also introduced the National Ambient Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2023, which would improve the processes both for EPA to revise current NAAQS and for states to implement those standards.
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