Bernard Mumford: EPA tweaks hurt small businesses

Over the 32 years I have been operating Mumford Restoration, I have seen countless government regulations hurt small businesses like mine. It seems like every year the government finds a new way to tell us how to run our operations without considering the impact new rules have.

I’m writing in reference to the new ozone regulations the EPA is pushing out. The current rules have the ground-level ozone standard at 75 parts per billion, a perfectly safe and acceptable level that most counties in North Carolina are close to achieving. But now the EPA wants to push that number down to 65 ppb.

This may not seem like much of a difference, but for a small business, this means investing in new tests and modeling to determine whether they are a “major stationary source of ozone” and buying new equipment to meet compliance regulations, when that money could be put toward creating jobs or expanding business.

I’m all for clean air, but the EPA needs to balance tightening standards with the cost to our economy and our businesses. The EPA should instead consider a collaborative approach that doesn’t involve massive costs for small businesses.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Bernard Mumford: EPA tweaks hurt small businesses."