SALT LAKE CITY, UT — This month, Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced that they filed a lawsuit to block a devastating new air quality rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would raise costs on Utah manufacturers, utilities, and families. AG Reyes and 23 other attorneys general joined Kentucky and West Virginia’s coalition in filing the lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
“The EPA’s new rule has more to do with advancing President Biden’s radical green agenda than protecting Kentuckians’ health or the environment. This rule will drive jobs and investment out of Kentucky and overseas, leaving employers and hardworking families to pay the price,” said Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman.
Even before this heavy-handed new rule, the United States has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world – tougher than the European Union and far more stringent than the world’s worst polluters, including China, India, and Indonesia. Making the standards more stringent wouldn’t improve public health, but it would put as many as 30% of all U.S. counties out of compliance under federal law, leading to aggressive new permitting requirements that could effectively block new economic activity or job creation.
The new EPA rule could:
- Block the permitting of new manufacturing facilities and drive good-paying jobs out of Utah and overseas;
- Stop new infrastructure construction and leave Utah families on unsafe and congested roads and bridges; and
- Require small businesses, farmers, restaurants, and even homeowners to pay for costly new equipment.
The Biden Administration’s ongoing assault on fossil fuels through this rule will make Utah less attractive for future growth.
The rule would weaken the U.S. economy while strengthening our competitors. According to a letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and 28 other leading industry associations, “lowering the current standard so dramatically would create a perverse disincentive for American investment. The EPA’s proposal could force investment in new facilities to foreign countries with less stringent air standards.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey are co-leading this lawsuit. AG Reyes joined attorneys general from the following states in the lawsuit: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming.
