EPA TO STREAMLINE AIR CONFORMITY RULES FOLLOWING AGENCIES' CONCERNS

Responding to concerns raised by the Defense, Energy and other departments, EPA this spring will propose new reforms to streamline a 13-year-old Clean Air Act rule ensuring that federal actions do not further erode air quality in areas that are not meeting the agency's health-based pollution standards, according to EPA documents and government sources. The proposal is still undergoing internal agency review, but EPA documents say the agency is considering a number of reforms to its 1993 "general conformity" rule...