EPA Lacks Authority For Air Toxics Plant Classification Policy, Critics Warn

National industry groups and several states are warning EPA that it lacks statutory authority for its proposed replacement for the Clinton-era “once in, always in” (OIAI) air toxics policy, saying that the agency misinterprets the Clean Air Act in order to justify retention of “major source” controls on facilities reclassified to “area source” status. EPA’s current position “is not a permissible or reasonable interpretation of the statute. In effect, EPA seeks to impose emissions standards on area sources that are...