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In 2015 the NAM sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to challenge its final rule lowering the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) from 75 to 70 parts per billion. The rule could be one of the most expensive in history and burden manufacturers by limiting their air emissions and ability to grow and expand operations. The NAM seeks to invalidate the standard and secure an instruction from the court to raise the standard. The court stayed litigation in April 2017 to allow the new presidential administration to determine whether to revise the standard. On August 1, 2018, EPA announced that it would not revise the standard but instead expedite the consideration and issuance of the 2020 NAAQS standard. In August of 2019, the D.C. Circuit upheld the 2015 ozone NAAQS standard of 70 ppb against claims by environmental groups that the standard is too lax, but also rejected arguments by the NAM and other industry groups and states that the standard is too strict and fails to properly account for background sources of ozone. This ruling avoids the serious economic consequences that would have come with the court mandating a lower standard.

The NAM intervened in a group of consolidated cases challenging a final rule from the EPA defining its jurisdiction over navigable “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Federal law specifies that, while most lawsuits are filed in federal district courts, some suits must be filed directly in the federal courts of appeals. The statute that provides appellate jurisdiction for certain challenges to EPA regulations does not apply to the WOTUS challenge, though the EPA argued that it did. Prompt resolution of this jurisdictional issue was important so that the WOTUS case could proceed expeditiously through the courts. The NAM’s brief explained that certain legal challenges, such as this issue, belong in the federal district courts and argued that this is not the type of appeal from agency rulemakings under the CWA that is limited to the federal appeals courts by statute. On January 22, 2018, the Supreme Court held that jurisdiction properly belongs in the federal district courts.

The NAM and 8 other business associations filed an amicus brief supporting Murray Energy's challenge to EPA's proposed rule to substantially regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. According to the EPA, the rule's annual compliance costs will reach at least $7.3 billion by 2030, and manufacturers will see dramatic electricity cost increases and less reliable service as a result.

The NAM amicus brief argued that Section 111(d)(1) of the Clean Air Act prohibits EPA from setting performance standards for sources that are already regulated under Section 112. EPA's interpretation would create double regulation, making power plant operation more expensive and conflicting with the purpose of Section 111(d). The statutory language is not ambiguous, and EPA's interpretation should not be given deference by the courts.

On June 9, 2015, the Court dismissed the challenge because the EPA has not taken final agency action that would allow a court to review it. The criteria under the All Writs Act for issuing an order against EPA's plans are not met, and the fact that some companies may be incurring costs in anticipation of the final rule does not justify court intervention.