McCaskill Introduces Bipartisan Plan to Give Local Governments Flexibility to Comply with Ozone Standards

Press Release

For state and local governments struggling to meet federal ozone standards, bipartisan legislation renewed today by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, along with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, would help alleviate the financial burden on those localities, allowing them to enter into agreements with regulators to meet the goals and avoid being saddled with a potentially economically damaging "nonattainment" status.

Some state and local governments are currently struggling to comply with ozone air quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. If a locality fails to achieve the standards, the agency is required to place that local government in "nonattainment" status--erecting significant hurdles to economic activity and development within that jurisdiction.

"Ensuring the health and safety of Missourians from ozone pollution is a critical goal we all share," McCaskill said. "But too many communities are facing down economic penalties as they struggle to comply with environmental regulations, and the folks in those communities shouldn't be punished by standards that can be tough to meet. That's why this commonsense, bipartisan plan is a win-win: helping alleviate that burden on localities and the businesses that call them home in a way that continues to safeguard the health and livelihood of our communities."

"I'm concerned that the EPA simply set a one-size-fits-all air quality standard for ozone that is unattainable for many Western states," Hatch said. "This bipartisan legislation directs the EPA to implement a program that gives communities a voice to design locally crafted solutions to improve air quality so that they can comply with federal standards. Under this program, our communities could actually improve air quality and altogether avoid the negative economic job-killing consequences that come with a non-attainment designation."

Under McCaskill and Hatch's renewed legislation--the EPA would be required to develop a program for "Early Action Compact Plans" for governments that cannot meet the new standards on time. The plans--subject to approval by the EPA--would need to contain measurable milestones, including adoption of control strategies to demonstrate achievement of the standards no later than 10 years after approval of the plan. The EPA would also be required to continue to defer designation of any such area as a "nonattainment" area until the expiration of the plan period, provided that the area continues to meet the terms of the plan.

McCaskill, a longtime advocate for curbing unnecessarily regulation, recently introduced bipartisan legislation requiring the federal government to cut waste and consolidate duplicative green building programs. She also worked to eliminate a redundant pesticide approvals process for Missouri's farmers and ranchers, and passed provisions of the Federal Permitting Improvement Act, along with Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, that streamlines and speeds up the federal permitting process for the largest and most complex projects, which were laden with an uncoordinated federal review process.

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