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AF&PA Applauds Overdue EPA Regulatory Reconsiderations

Actions to revise burdensome regulations are necessary to promoting U.S. manufacturing and jobs

WASHINGTON – The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock today issued the following statement in response to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announcing actions reconsidering or ending various regulations that present growing challenges to U.S. pulp, paper and wood products manufacturers:

“AF&PA has long communicated the need to dramatically improve the regulatory process to better serve the public interest, create jobs and strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. pulp, paper and wood products manufacturers. 

"Today’s regulatory action recognizes that our mostly rural manufacturing facilities play a fundamental role in America’s economic success and must not be stymied by poorly designed regulations.” 

In particular, AF&PA notes significant progress on the following:

  • Reconsideration of Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which has created permitting gridlock across the country (PM 2.5 NAAQS)
  • Ending the “Good Neighbor Plan,” which inappropriately included our industry as we did not meet the statutory criteria
  • Reconsideration of multiple National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for manufacturing sectors (NESHAPs), which will avoid unachievable rules with significant costs and limited benefits

“We deeply appreciate the Administration recognizing that the complexity and volume of these regulations failed to balance costs and benefits, disregarded the best available science, and posed significant challenges for our industry."

"We stand ready to work with Administrator Zeldin to enact policies that follow the best reading of the law and allow our industry to continue as an American manufacturing success story.”

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030