Industry Warns PM2.5 Standard Will Create Permitting Gridlock; States Cite Exceptional‑event and Implementation Burdens

Industry groups, state air regulators and environmental advocates used differing data and assumptions at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing to argue about whether the 2024 annual PM2.5 standard will prevent new construction and modernization projects or whether the law’s health‑first framework should be preserved and implementation improved.

Trade associations and manufacturers told the panel the 2024 PM2.5 standard — which tightened the annual limit from 12 µg/m3 to 9 µg/m3 — sits very near background concentrations in many parts of the country and leaves little “headroom” for new facilities. Paul Noe of the American Forest and Paper Association said the average background level is about 8 µg/m3 and that a typical project needs an increment of roughly three units; that arithmetic, he said, puts many projects above a 9‑unit standard and effectively…