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Texas Leads State Effort To Scrap EPA Ozone Rules

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R)

Gov. Greg Abbott has requested that the Environmental Protection Agency scrap plans to lower the national standard for ground-level ozone, the toxic gas that can harm the respiratory system and cause asthma, a day before a public comment period ends.

Abbott said in a statement Monday that the new regulations would "stifle economic growth and job creation."

A letter to EPA director Gina McCarthy, signed by Abbott and the governors of 10 other states, asks the agency to maintain the current standard of 75 parts per billion. The EPA is considering a range as low as 60 parts per billion. Business groups have panned the new regulations as unnecessary but the American Lung Association says they don't go far enough.

The EPA will issue a new rule by October.

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