Environmentalists’ Lawsuit Raises Pressure On EPA To Issue SSM Policy

Environmentalists have filed a new lawsuit seeking to force action by EPA to eliminate most states’ regulatory exemptions for excess air emissions during periods of plant startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM), likely reviving older litigation on the issue in an effort to push the agency to issue a new national policy. In their suit filed Sept. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, groups including Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project and the Natural Resources Defense...