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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

U.S. Chamber Files Petition to Challenge EPA’s Triggering of Clean Air Act Regulation

02/12/2010
Steven J. Law, chief legal officer and general counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, issued the following statement on the Chamber's intention to challenge EPA's decision to trigger Clean Air Act regulation:

"The U.S. Chamber strongly supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, but we believe there is a right way and a wrong way to achieve that goal.

"The wrong way is through the EPA's endangerment finding, which triggers Clean Air Act regulation.  Because of the huge potential impact on jobs and local economies, this is an issue that requires careful analysis of all available data and options.  Unfortunately, the agency failed to do that and instead overreached.  The result is a flawed administrative finding that will lead to other poorly conceived regulations further downstream.

"The right way is through bipartisan legislation that promotes new technologies, emphasizes efficiency, ensures affordable energy for families and businesses, and defends American jobs while returning our economy to prosperity.  We also need a comprehensive international agreement that includes all CO2 emitting economies, which the Chamber has been actively working toward.

"Today the Chamber is filing a formal petition indicating it will challenge EPA's decision to trigger Clean Air Act regulation, based on lapses in EPA's process in making that decision.

"The Chamber's legal challenge will focus specifically on the inadequacies of the process that EPA followed in triggering Clean Air Act regulation, and not on scientific issues related to climate change or endangerment. Further details about our challenge will be forthcoming in the coming weeks when our statement of issues is filed.

"We continue to call for Congress to address climate change policy through the legislative process, rather than having EPA misapplies environmental statutes like the Clean Air Act or Endangered Species Act that were not created to regulate greenhouse gas emissions."

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