EPA Retains 'Affirmative Defense' In Consent Decree Despite SSM 'SIP Call'

Story Updated EPA in a proposed consent decree over a utility's alleged Clean Air Act violations includes an "affirmative defense" that will shield the company from civil liability for air law violations due to certain malfunctions, seemingly at odds with the intent of the agency's recent rule forcing states to remove affirmative defense provisions from their air quality plans. "On the one hand, EPA does a lot of things to settle a case that they might not accept in...