Industry Group will no longer Challenge Obama-Era Ozone Limits Upheld by the Courts

Back in August of 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled to uphold Obama-Era ozone limits of 70 parts per billion, as established in 2015. The court ruled that the limits instituted during the Obama Administration were lawful and were not too stringent, as argued by a coalition of industry members lead by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Coalition petitioned to challenge the ruling and was given until January 17 to submit a formal petition to the Supreme Court of the United States. The industry group believed that the pollution standards that are meant to protect public health unduly hurt business. However, the August ruling rejected the argument and instead instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider health issues when setting standards, in addition to the considerations outlined by Congress in the Clean Air Act, including energy impacts, cost to businesses, and other environmental concerns.

The industry Coalition is no longer pursing the issue in court, though the EPA will continue to debate weather current standards should be maintained. EPA will be hosting a two-day teleconference in February to obtain feedback from the clean air community to critically asses EPA’s initial assessments of—and policy recommendations on—the 2015 ozone limits.