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The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent proposal to impose stricter air-quality regulations would only harm an already-struggling economy, the NAM argued last week.   

Why it’s important: The suggested changes, which are out for public comment for the next two months, would be harmful for manufacturers, a group that has long been committed to clean air standards, said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons.

• “Improving air quality in the U.S. is a priority for manufacturers, and we’ve worked for years to make progress in delivering some of the cleanest manufacturing processes in the world,” Timmons said.
• “Based on the EPA’s own data, air quality has improved by more than 30% over the past 20 years, even as production and energy consumption have increased.”
• However, “reconsider[ing] the PM 2.5 standard will only further weaken an already slowing economy. It will push states and localities into a nonattainment designation, which will halt new investment, stop operations in some circumstances and cost jobs.”

Recession worries: The majority of manufacturers polled in the NAM’s Q4 2022 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey predict a recession this year, and more costly regulations are the last thing the industry needs, Timmons continued.

• This “announcement is the wrong approach,” he said. “Let manufacturers do what they do best: innovate and deploy modern technologies to protect the environment, while creating jobs and strengthening the economy.”