EPA Aims To Strip ‘Affirmative Defense’ From Oil And Gas Air Toxics Rules

EPA is proposing to remove “affirmative defense” provisions shielding the oil and natural gas industry from civil liability for malfunctions in the production and transmission sectors, in line with agency policy and legal precedent, as the agency presses to remove waivers for periods of plant startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM) more broadly. In a Federal Register notice published Dec. 1, EPA proposes to remove the affirmative defense from its national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) rules for...