EPA Orders 36 States To Remove SSM Provisions From Air Quality Plans

EPA has issued a final rule granting environmentalists' petition for the agency to force 36 states to scrap provisions in their state air quality plans that exempted industry from Clean Air Act emissions standards during periods of facility startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM), saying recent court rulings make the exemption unlawful. The affected states will now have to revise their state implementation plans (SIPs) -- blueprints for complying with federal air quality regulations -- to delete references to the SSM...