Alabama joins 13 other states in opposing 'overreaching, unlawful' EPA regs

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange announced Wednesday that Alabama has joined with 13 other states in opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new, stricter ozone regulations.

The states sent a letter to EPA chief Gina McCarthy expressing concern that the regulations are “unlawful and unachievable,” arguing that the necessity of the low limits are not supported by scientific evidence, and would be prohibitively expensive.

“Once again, the EPA is engaged in a practice of overreach that appears to be ideologically driven rather than based upon ensuring adequate projection of public health,” Attorney General Strange said. “The new rule will unnecessarily add to the costs of states’ compliance with a standard that cannot be met.”

A necessary part of the atmosphere at high elevations, ozone, in high concentrations at ground-level is considered a pollutant.

The EPA’s proposed regulations would impose a limit of 65-70 parts per billion (ppb) for ozone, down from the current accepted level of 75 ppb. While that may seem like an arbitrary decrease, it is estimated that the more stringent standards would cost American businesses between $4 billion and $15 billion by 2025.

Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin also signed the letter.

This week the U.S. House passed two bills that seek to bring more accountability and transparency to the EPA.

“The EPA is an agency with serious and systemic problems,” said Alabama Congressman Gary Palmer, who sits on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee that originally approved the bill. “It has abused its power to achieve goals which are not supported by the American people, and too often does so without sufficient transparency or public input. These bills will resolve some of these ongoing problems, and move us in the right direction by ensuring the EPA does not rely on secret, unverifiable science, and by ensuring scientific review does not become politicized.”

Coupled with the EPA’s proposed carbon emissions rules, these regulations could have devastating effects on states’ economies, particularly in those that rely heavily on energy produced by coal fired power plants.

Alabama Power, which provides electricity for most of the state, has already spent $3 billion in recent years to keep up with EPA regulations, and would need to spend even more to comply with new ozone levels and carbon emissions rules—costs that would almost certainly be passed on to customers.

A recent study found that the EPA’s carbon emissions cuts could put in jeopardy the state’s $1.3 billion a year coal industry, and could raise the price of electricity by 20%.

The EPA has until October to approve or drop the proposed ozone rules.