Subcommittee Chair Carter Opening Remarks on Harmful EPA NAAQS Standard (2.15.24)

okay the chair now recognizes himself for an opening statement let me welcome the witnesses to this hearing on legislation to update the process under the Clean Air Act for setting and implementing National ambient air quality standards knacks the Clean Air Act requires the promation of knacks for six criteria air pollutant for six criteria air pollutants sulfur dioxide particulate matter nitrogen dioxide carbon monoxide ozone drawn and LED under the current structure of the statue EPA is required to review periodically the scientific data upon which the the Knacks are based and Revis the standards if necessary to maintain an adequate margin of safety that is request it to protect Public Health today we will hear testimony and receive feedback on the air quality standards implementation Act of 2024 this discussion draft would update how the standards are reviewed and implemented and provide more clarity in the law to enable better control of armful emissions like wildfire smoke this hearing is one of the utmost importance to many districts across the country SouthEast Georgia where I'm from is poised for a manufacturing boom our favorable climate access to Ports low electricity rates and welcoming businesses environment is have made it one of the best places to invest in the country we are growing quickly billion doll Manufacturing Investments have been made and further opportunities are quickly pre presenting themselves in addition to these developing areas we have Legacy industries that are backbone of our economy Georgia is the number one forestry state in the country and according to the Georgia Forestry commission the industry provided over $ 1.5 billion dollar in economic output to my district in 2022 these sectors are looking to grow and while they grow they are seeking to do it with the highest environmental standards in the world however actions like the B administration's recently finalized annual PM 2.5 standard threatened to slam the brakes on these Investments and economic drivers one of the main concerns is that because of the success of the Clean Air Act already new standards are getting closer and closer to background levels because of this even areas that meet the standard will not have enough room or head space to allow for permitting new or expanded construction th this recent action by the EPA is counterproductive to our goals of onshoring supply chains and boosting American manufacturing according to a report conducted by Oxford economics the epa's recently finalized PM 2.5 standards will threaten up to1 197.4 billion dollar of economic activity and put nearly 1 million jobs at risk we'll hear today about analysis of Permitting from three dozen different Industries including Pharmaceuticals paper and wood and electric vehicle batteries the analysis shows that the recently finalized PM 2.5 standard would result in the failure to permit nearly 80% of those projects and these are industries that already control emissions to the highest standards we learned in a hearing last fall that most of the PM 2.5 emission do not even come from these sources about four after 40 years something is not working with our system to set and enforce standards the Clean Air Act was not established to kill American productivity and prosperity it was established to enhance our success we must make practical reforms to ensure the KNX process works in a way that makes sense it should reflect the experience of 40 Years of implementing air quality standards the discussion draft reflects some of the experience among other measures it would provide more time to develop new standards while providing time for EPA and the states to focus on implementing standards it ensures this that state air po ution agencies responsible for and experts in implementing the standards have a larger voice in the process it would make clear that wildfire and other exceptional events can be reliably excluded from compliance D data and it would make it easier to reduce wildfires and lower harmful pollution levels I invite constructive comments from the panelist both on PM 2.5 implementation challenges and what those indicate about the current process and how reforms May address those challenges I should note that we sought to have EPA testify today but EPA declined to attend at this point we will continue to work with the agency as we should including examining the comments it supplied to our bill we will also continue to work to get this right America has the best environmental standards and wonderful economic potential we will work to make sure this Remains the case going forward at this time