Press Releases

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) today voted to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from placing unnecessary economic burden on manufacturers and businesses.

The Ozone Standards Implementation Act (H.R. 806) delays the implementation of the EPA’s 2015 ozone standards in the Clean Air Act until 2025. It also increases the timeline for EPA reviews of compliance with ozone standards from five years to ten years.

“The EPA’s current regulations on ozone need to be more flexible,” said Grothman. “The Ozone Standards Implementation Act delivers a much-needed level of commonsense to the regulations.”

“This bill will especially benefit Sheboygan County, where the EPA is unfairly targeting local manufacturers and businesses for ozone coming from outside Wisconsin. Right now, industry in the area has to fulfill additional permitting requirements because of elevated ozone readings and have the potential to be hit with penalties because of standards that change too quickly.

“As Sheboygan County, and the entire 6^th district, competes for jobs with other states and countries, we cannot and should not force local businesses to spend millions unnecessarily. This vote is a step in the right direction to prevent this from happening in the future.”

The Ozone Standards Implementation Act passed the House by a vote of 229-199.

Background

The 2008 EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone were set at 75 parts per billion (ppb), which took until 2015 to fully implement. The 2015 standards were soon after released lowering the allowed levels to 70 pbb, leaving manufacturers and businesses scrambling as they tried to keep up with the EPA to avoid penalties.

The current system is unsustainable. H.R. 806 gives businesses adequate time to fully implement ozone standards.

Additionally, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) recently released a report detailing how Sheboygan County’s growth is being stifled by EPA regulations on ozone emissions coming from outside the state.

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman is serving his second term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.