Input Stories

NAM Asks SCOTUS to Review and Reverse Overreaching EPA Regs

By NAM NewsroomSeptember 2, 2026

U.S. Supreme Court

The NAM and other leading business groups have filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse the D.C. Circuit’s decision allowing the Environmental Protection Agency’s unlawful and unworkable air quality standard for fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, to stand.

The background: In 2024, the EPA lowered the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM2.5 from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9—after leaving them untouched in its mandated 2020 review.

  • The NAM and seven leading business groups challenged the rule in the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the EPA did not have the authority to change the standards without a proper review or outside the regular time frame for reconsideration.
  • Then, in November 2025, the Trump administration reversed the agency’s position and asked the D.C. Circuit to vacate the rule, backing the NAM’s argument that the previous administration tried to take an unlawful regulatory shortcut.
  • However, in June of this year, the D.C. Circuit upheld the rule, saying that the agency could revise these standards outside of the review cycle—but the court drew on an argument that the previous administration never used itself.

Why it matters: According to new NAM analysis, a standard of 9 threatens at least 474 manufacturing projects announced in the United States since Jan. 1, 2025—representing nearly $1 trillion in investment and more than 122,000 American jobs.

NAM in action: “Manufacturers have fought this rule from the beginning because the consequences for investment, growth and American competitiveness are enormous: investment, jobs and America’s ability to compete,” said NAM Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary Linda Kelly.

  • “The D.C. Circuit allowed the rule to stand, relying on a legal argument the previous administration never invoked to defend its actions. An agency cannot simply disregard the substantive safeguards required by Congress to impose a sweeping new regulatory burden—and a court should not rescue an unlawful rule with an argument the government never raised.”

The bottom line: “Manufacturers need the ability to obtain permits, expand operations, modernize facilities and invest in communities across the country. This standard puts those investments and the jobs they support at risk,” said Kelly.