Last week's EPA news release announcing new smog standards just added to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt's unhappiness with the federal agency.
Blunt, a Republican - and other members of Missouri's congressional delegation - have complained for months about the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to reduce coal as an energy source for America's power plants.
"You can label these rules whatever you want to but, the truth is, they're an overreach," Blunt told Missouri reporters during a Tuesday afternoon telephone conference call. "They're outrageous.
"The one that came out the day before Thanksgiving - at least one national news organization called it the most expensive regulation ever."
In a news release last Wednesday, the federal EPA announced: "Based on extensive recent scientific evidence about the harmful effects of ground-level ozone, or smog, EPA is proposing to strengthen air quality standards to within a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion (ppb) to better protect Americans' health and the environment, while taking comment on a level as low as 60 ppb."
Blunt said: "This is the one (that) would go up higher - even though in most of the country, the old standard has not, yet, been reached - nor is there any real definition as to why it would make sense to go to another standard."
In last week's news release, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said: "Bringing ozone pollution standards in line with the latest science will clean up our air, improve access to crucial air quality information, and protect those most at-risk.
"It empowers the American people with updated air quality information to protect our loved ones - because whether we work or play outdoors - we deserve to know the air we breathe is safe."
Blunt this week also filed comments on a different EPA proposal, the "Clean Power Plan" (CPP) for existing power plants.
In his comments, a news release said, Blunt urged the EPA to withdraw the CPP, which he called "an unprecedented, sweeping action to regulate the entire U.S. electric power sector" through the federal Clean Air Act.
He told reporters the proposal hurts vulnerable Missourians - and Americans - the most.
"Fifty percent of the families in Missouri earn less than $50,000 a year, and in those families - it's estimated - 20 percent of their income already goes to energy costs," he explained. "We have 13 counties in our state that are rural, persistent poverty counties, as they're defined.
"They're served by rural electric co-ops - and the cost of power is passed along to the people who pay the utility bill."
Some estimate the rules could bump electricity costs by 50 percent.
Blunt acknowledged that supporters of the tougher clean air rules - that would force utilities to use less coal in generating electricity - often claim the utilities will have to pay any higher costs.
But that's not good business, he said.
"Utility companies don't bear the costs of anything," Blunt noted. "Whether it's a rural electric co-op or a for-profit (company) that's (regulated by) the Public Service Commission in Missouri - they all pass along the additional costs that these (federal) regulations create.
"And I'm going to do everything I can to see that these regulations that hurt our economy don't go into effect."
Blunt said people can send their own comments to the EPA, and noted the state's electric co-ops already have submitted "hundreds of thousands" of comments.
"Whenever people figure out these rules are about their utility bill, they have a much different view of this than the (Obama) administration would like them to have," he said. "The cost-benefit analysis needs to be real, here, because the costs on families and the costs on opportunities is real. ...
"If we get to the point where these rules are about to go into effect, one thing Congress can do is say, "You can't spend any money to implement these rules.'"