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NADA Sues EPA, Challenges New Air Quality Regs

19 September 1997

NADA Sues EPA, Challenges New Air Quality Regs

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The National Automobile Dealers
Association filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this
week, challenging new air quality standards that would raise costs for
consumers and adversely impact small businesses.  NADA says that EPA failed to
show its new ozone and particulate matter rules to be necessary to protect
human health and to take into account the standard's burden on small
businesses.
    "These new air quality standards will increase the price of new cars,
current maintenance requirements for vehicles on the road and the cost of
dealership repair services, in addition to raising energy costs for all small
businesses," said Paul R. MacDonald, chairman of NADA's Regulatory Affairs
Committee.  "We support the goal of clean air, but this rule puts an undue
burden on consumers and small businesses without any guarantee that the
measures are necessary or that they will have the desired effect."
    Ozone pollution has been reduced dramatically over the past decade due to
lower vehicle emissions, new diagnostic systems and a tougher emissions
tampering law.  Stricter vehicle inspection and maintenance standards,
reformulated gasolines and alternative fuels will continue to result in huge
air quality improvements that will only increase as the fleet turns over.  The
Clean Air Act Science Advisory Committee has recommended that more research be
conducted before changing the standards, and NADA supports that
recommendation.
    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, federal agencies
promulgating a rulemaking must perform a regulatory flexibility analysis to
determine if it will have a substantial impact on a significant number of
small businesses.  Since June, more than two dozen organizations representing
small businesses; labor unions; automotive, cement, chemical, farming, iron,
manufacturing, mining, petroleum, power and steel industries; and the states
of Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia have filed suit against EPA to challenge
the new ozone standards.
    The National Automobile Dealers Association represents more than 19,500
franchised new-car and -truck dealers holding nearly 40,000 separate
franchises, domestic and import.

SOURCE  National Automobile Dealers Association