EPA-Approved Texas SO2 Trading Plan May Face Further Legal Challenges

EPA has approved Texas’ sulfur dioxide (SO2) trading program as an alternative to source-specific emissions controls to implement the agency’s regional haze reduction program, but environmentalists are already harshly criticizing the long-disputed measure because it “dismally” fails to cut pollution, adding they are open to further legal action. A final rule signed June 29 by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler affirms, with certain modifications, an earlier rule that provisionally approved the trading program as an alternative to source-specific controls. The haze...