Press Releases

Today, Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Western Caucus Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04) and Representative Buddy Carter (GA-01), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee, were joined by 108 members of the House of Representatives in demanding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescind the recently finalized rule for National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
 
“EPA’s recent NAAQS rule is an unnecessary change that puts American manufacturing, forestry, and other industries at risk,” said Chairman Newhouse. “America already has stringent clean air standards and ranks in the top 20 globally in air quality. This new standard only serves to hamper prosperity across the country for negligible benefits while forcing businesses to close, increasing manufacturing costs, and inflicting harm to communities across the country. As Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I’m proud to help lead this effort in urging EPA to rescind this rule and restore prosperity to rural America.”
 
“The U.S. has some of the best air quality in the world, and thanks to collaboration with industry leaders committed to being good stewards or our environment, it’s only getting better,” said Vice Chair Bruce Westerman. “The EPA’s unnecessary decision to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter was not made with the best interests of the environment in mind and will bring this progress to a halting stop. These onerous new standards will be logistically impossible for critical industries to execute successfully and will result in the loss of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity. I’m proud to lead this effort, alongside Dan Newhouse and Buddy Carter, to call on the EPA to immediately rescind this job-killing rule.”
 
“The Biden administration’s irresponsible and unnecessary PM2.5 standard is a death knell for vital US industries, including manufacturing and timber,” said Rep. Carter. “As the representative from the #1 forestry state in the nation and a district that is seeing a manufacturing boom, that is deeply concerning. America has the best environmental standards and wonderful economic potential. We must maintain both by working with industry leaders to enact practical NAAQS reforms that build on the Clean Air Act’s 40-year history of successfully improving air quality nationwide.”
 
Members signing on to the letter are Representatives Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Buddy Carter (GA-01), Kevin Hern (OK-01), Paul Gosar (AZ-09), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), August Pfluger (TX-11), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Carol Miller (WV-01), Keith Self (TX-03), Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Brian Babin (TX-36), Kelly Armstrong (ND-AL)), Rick Crawford (AR-01), Jay Obernolte (CA-23), Randy Weber (TX-14), Claudia Tenney (NY-24), Troy Balderson (OH-12), John Rose (TN-06), Jake Ellzey (TX-06), Mike Collins (GA-10), Mariannette Miller Meeks (IA-01), Mary Miller (IL-15), Alex Mooney (WV-02), Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03), Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14), Mike Ezell (MS-04), Mike Bost (IL-12), Jerry Carl (AL-01), Dusty Johnson (SD-AL), John Moolenaar (MI-02), Austin Scott (GA-08), Adrian Smith (NE-03), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), Barry Moore (AL-02), Michael Burgess (TX-26), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), Rob Wittman (VA-01), Matt Rosendale (MT-02), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Greg Murphy (NC-03), Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Tim Walberg (MI-05), Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), Morgan Griffith (VA-09), David Valadao (CA-22), Steve Womack (AR-03), Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Gary Palmer (AL-06), Mike Gallagher (WI-08), Erin Houchin (IN-09), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-02), John Rutherford (FL-05), Brad Finstad (MN-01), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Ashley Hinson (IA-02), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Tom McClintock (CA-05), Hal Rogers (KY-05), Jack Bergman (MI-01), Scott Perry (PA-10), Aaron Bean (FL-04), Michelle Fischbach (MN-07), Blake Moore (UT-01), French Hill (AR-02), Kat Cammack (FL-03), Mike Carey (OH-15), Josh Brecheen (OK-02), Dan Meuser (PA-09), Jake LaTurner (KS-02), Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15), Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), Larry Bucshon (IN-08), Ron Estes (KS-04), Frank Lucas (OK-03), Celeste Maloy (UT-02), Mark Alford (MO-04), Mike Simpson (ID-02), David Rouzer (NC-07), Morgan Luttrell (TX-08), Rick Allen (GA-12), Mark Amodei (NV-02), Randy Feenstra (IA-04), Ryan Zinke (MT-01), Cliff Bentz (OR-02), Rudy Yakym (IN-02), Michael Guest (MS-03), Andrew Clyde (GA-09), Chip Roy (TX-21), Mike Flood (NE-01), Mike Turner (OH-10), Dale Strong (AL-05), Pete Stauber (MN-08), Eli Crane (AZ-02), Ben Cline (VA-06), Amata Radewagen (American Samoa-AL), Darrell Issa (CA-48), Brad Wenstrup (OH-02), Jason Smith (MO-08), Bryan Steil (WI-01), Jim Baird (IN-04), Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), Richard Hudson (NC-09), Andy Ogles (TN-05), Burgess Owens (UT-04), and Darin LaHood (IL-16).
 
Text of this letter can be found here.
 
At the end of January, Chairman Newhouse and Vice Chair Westerman sent a letter to EPA Administrator Regan urging the agency to halt its release of this rule.
 
Following release of the rule, Western Caucus members released statements condemning the rule.