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The Environmental Protection Agency will consider pausing the ozone nonattainment status of the Maricopa County, Arizona, area, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said following a recent event in the region (USA Today). 
 
What’s going on: At a March 19 stakeholder roundtable in Phoenix hosted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry and organized by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), business leaders told Zeldin that even with significant emissions-reduction efforts on their part, “the state has little control over the majority of its ozone pollution,” according to Chamber Business News. 

• The event, attended by manufacturers including Intel and Freeport McMoRan, came as Arizona’s Maricopa County—in which Phoenix is located—faces reclassification into serious nonattainment status under the EPA’s tightened National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5.
• The NAM has argued against the unworkably strict standard since it was announced by the previous administration in 2024 and has called on the Trump administration to reconsider the rule. 

Not in manufacturers’ control: As much as 80% of Arizona ozone pollution comes from sources outside the state, including wildfires and international pollution, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments and the EPA (Chamber Business News). 

• What’s more, reclassification to nonattainment status “would significantly tighten emissions restrictions on businesses and impact economic growth.” 

What should be done instead: Arizona business leaders at the roundtable “urged the EPA to consider practical solutions, including expanding emissions reduction credit programs, which allow businesses to earn credits by reducing emissions below regulatory limits,” according to Chamber Business News.  
 
What’s next: The looming nonattainment status of Maricopa County is “a concern,” Zeldin said after the event. “We can’t have a one-size-fits-all solution. Sen. Kelly’s voice has been heard loud and clear at the EPA.”