EPA Approval Of Texas ‘Affirmative Defense’ Hints At National Policy Shift

EPA is proposing to approve Texas’ plan to offer an “affirmative defense” shielding companies from certain Clean Air Act enforcement actions when air law violations are due to unplanned events, suggesting a possible shift in national policy from the Obama administration’s general prohibition on states being able to offer the waiver. In a proposal slated for publication in the April 29 Federal Register , the Trump administration splits from the Obama-era position that a federal appeals court ruling barring use...