EPA Defends Air Permit ‘Significant Impact Levels’ Against Sierra Club Suit

EPA, backed by the oil industry, is defending its use of “significant impact levels” (SILs) -- a screening tool to exempt industry air permit applicants from undergoing a full analysis of likely emissions impacts of their projects -- against environmentalist litigation arguing the tool allows unlawful increases in pollution. State and federal air regulators use SILs to determine whether the likely emissions effect of a new or modified air pollution source would necessitate a full-blown cumulative impacts analysis. These analyses...