Three lawmakers from Capitol Hill met in Lake Charles on Friday to gain a local perspective on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to reduce the federal ozone standard, a plan they all oppose.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was joined by Reps. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, and Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, for a one-hour briefing with area industry leaders, who described how the EPA’s proposal to lower the federal ozone standard from 75 parts per billion to as low as 60 ppb would adversely affect industry in Southwest Louisiana.

During the meeting, held in the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury hearing room, industry leaders said a 60 ppb standard would put all of Louisiana — and most of the country — in nonattainment status, hurting industry and offering little to no environmental benefit.

“Nonattainment areas are very difficult places to expand or improve business of any size, due to more expensive and restrictive regulations,” said Michael Walls, vice president of regulatory and technical affairs for the American Chemistry Council, a trade group for chemical manufacturers.

“It’s likely that facilities would expand only if they shut down some part of their operation or they came up with some significant additional investment, or if they were required to buy increasingly expensive offsets.”

Walls said a large number of ACC-member companies in the Houston area have collectively spent billions of dollars in emissions control to meet the ozone standard. He said the investment has led to a dramatic reduction in pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and volatile organic chemicals.

But even after the billions in investment there, Walls said, the Houston area is only now on the verge of meeting the 1997 ozone standard of 84 ppb. In short, he said, the Houston area remains in nonattainment with the EPA’s current 75 ppb standard.

“The fact is, any company in the Houston area that wants to expand or build a facility must now pay for emission offset just to secure a preconstruction permit,” Walls said. “These offsets are difficult to attain, and they currently run in the neighborhood of $175,000 per ton of volatile organic chemicals or nitrogen oxide. A lower standard is sure to drive those costs up even more.”

Larry DeRoussel, executive director of the Lake Area Industry Alliance, said ozone precursors, which are emitted by such things as cars, production facilities and vegetation, bring the nationwide background ozone levels from 25 to 40 ppb.

“The EPA’s ozone standard of 60 ppb is only slightly higher than the background level,” DeRoussel said. “Even with today’s technology many parts of the country will not be able to meet this standard.”

Grant Bush, executive director of the Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning and Development Commission, said IMCAL developed an air task force composed of public officials and business leaders who created an action plan for the EPA’s Ozone Advance Program, a voluntary program that encourages emission reductions in ozone attainment areas.

“We have presented this plan to local city officials so they can use it when considering their capital projects, as well as educating the public on what they can do to help mitigate any consequences that could come with lowering the standard,” he said.

The EPA’s current ozone standard was established in 2008 under the Bush administration. Vitter, a ranking member of the Senate Environmental and Public Affairs Committee, said the region’s growth represents huge challenges for attainment, even under the present 75 ppb standard. If the standards are lowered, he said, those challenges “could become insurmountable.”

Vitter said the National Association of Manufacturers released a study last month on the cost and economic impact of a 60 ppb ozone standard. He said the study found that the new standard “would be the single most expensive regulation in history.”

“It would reduce GDP by $270 billion each year and as much as $3.4 trillion by 2040,” Vitter said. “The average U.S. household would lose over $1,500 per year.”

Vitter said Louisiana could lose 116,000 jobs per year and see $53 billion in gross state product loss from 2017 to 2040.

Boustany said regulations such as the EPA’s proposed change in the ozone standard represent “an insidious tax on economic development and economic growth.”

“It’s really disturbing to see the proliferation of these regulations,” Boustany said. “It’s taxation without accountability. It’s an insidious tax without benefit, without demonstrable science to back it, without demonstrable health benefits.”

Cassidy, who is challenging Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., for her Senate seat, said the EPA’s proposal would destroy jobs at a time when the nation is coming out of a recession.

“Our priority should be rolling out the red carpet for these jobs, not the red tape,” he said. “We should be working to make these jobs a reality. The EPA-planned new ozone standard creates uncertainty.”

The EPA will officially propose its new ozone standard on Dec. 1. The proposal is scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1, 2015.

Vitter said the only thing that can get in the proposal’s way is Congress.

“Congress can by vote pass a motion of disapproval,” he said. “In my opinion, that would happen in the present House. I am certain it would not happen in the Harry Reid Senate. A Harry Reid Senate would rubber stamp this; a different Senate would not.”(MGNonline)