The agency was originally scheduled to issue a proposal in July as part of an agreement with environmental groups that had sued the EPA. The proposal was postponed to the end of September, with the regulations to be finalized by the end of May 2012.
The EPA announcement comes two weeks after President Barack Obama ordered the EPA to end its reconsideration of federal ozone standards.
“While many applaud the EPA’s decision to postpone the regulation of GHG emissions as an immediate victory for the economy, such regulations should not just be postponed, they should be forever abandoned because they are based on factually incorrect science,” said Craig Idso, senior fellow-environment, The Heartland Institute. “Atmospheric carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, it is a biospheric benefit necessary for life—all life on our planet. As has been demonstrated in literally thousands of laboratory and field experiments, the higher the CO2 concentration, the bigger and better plants grow.”
On September 2, President Barack Obama asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the agency’s proposed toughened ozone standards, citing the need to reduce regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as the American economy continues to recover.
“After careful consideration, I have requested that Administrator Jackson withdraw the draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards at this time,” Obama said. “Work is already under way to update a 2006 review of the science that will result in the reconsideration of the ozone standard in 2013. Ultimately, I did not support asking state and local governments to begin implementing a new standard that will soon be reconsidered.”
The ozone standards are separate from the GHG air permitting requirements EPA implemented this year, which are set on a case-by-case basis.
