Texas' Rule Suspension Intensifies Uncertainty Over Air Law Regulatory Exemptions

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has suspended a host of state environmental rules due to Hurricane Harvey, though the indefinite suspension has intensified uncertainty over the future of the states' pre-existing regulatory exemptions for periods of startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM), which the Obama EPA sought to remove but which the Trump administration is reconsidering. In view of the hurricane emergency, Abbott Aug. 28 approved a wide-ranging request from Richard Hyde, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality...