American Petroleum Institute criticizes EPA's new ozone rule

The American Petroleum Institute (API) recently said the Environmental Protection Agency’s new ozone regulation does not accurately attribute ozone precursor emissions.
“EPA should delay implementing the 2015 ozone standards until adequate tools are available and existing control programs have been implemented,” API Senior Director of Regulatory & Scientific Affairs Howard Feldman said. “The agency has failed to identify an effective process to identify emission sources outside of state regulatory control – most specifically, methods of accounting for the many sources of background ozone.”
According the API, the EPA’s Exceptional Event Rule does not account for emissions that are not man-made. This method of measuring emissions will make it difficult for states to meet air quality standards.
“Ozone levels have fallen and are continuing to decline under the existing standards as the U.S. leads the world in oil and natural gas production, which has helped lower energy costs for consumers,” Feldman said. “Moving forward with standards and regulations that could increase costs for businesses, significantly impact U.S. jobs and hurt state economies without having an adequate process to craft effective strategies is the wrong path. EPA should get the science right before requiring states to proceed.”