Congressmen Brett Guthrie and Morgan Griffith have announced a hearing titled “Short-Circuiting Progress: How the Clean Air Act Impacts Building Necessary Infrastructure and Onshoring American Innovation.” The hearing will examine how regulations under the Clean Air Act affect infrastructure development and domestic manufacturing.
“American innovation should not be stifled by unreasonable government red tape and regulatory overreach. Over the years we saw how regulations have gone far beyond their original intent, chilling investments and pushing manufacturing overseas,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Griffith. “This hearing offers a chance to examine ways that Congress can take steps to make environmental statutes more workable, increase domestic manufacturing, and support American jobs.”
The Subcommittee on Environment will conduct the hearing on June 11, 2025, at 10:15 AM in the Rayburn House Office Building. It will be open to the public and press, with a livestream available on energycommerce.house.gov.
Paul Noe of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) and the American Wood Council (AWC) submitted written testimony addressing concerns about the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program. The testimony calls for modernizing NAAQS permits, which are seen as obstacles to infrastructure development.
The forest products industry, employing over 925,000 people and contributing significantly to U.S. GDP, has reduced emissions but faces challenges due to current NAAQS rules. Permit gridlock is a major issue where projects struggle to obtain necessary permits even in areas meeting air quality standards.
The testimony suggests reforms such as linking NAAQS changes with practical implementation plans, considering attainability when setting standards, extending review cycles from five to ten years, treating wildfires as exceptional events in emissions calculations, using modern statistical tools for permitting assessments, improving background estimation methods, and allowing adjustments for high concentration events like wildfires.
The testimony concludes that outdated permitting processes hinder modernization efforts in manufacturing. The reduction of PM2.5 NAAQS limits has made obtaining permits difficult even for minor projects. The industry advocates for balanced regulation that supports growth while addressing environmental concerns.
Information from this article can be found here.
