EPA Bar On State Air Plans That Hinder Prescribed Fire Spurs Confusion

State air regulators are expressing confusion about EPA’s rationale for a policy guidance that aims to bar provisions in state plans to meet federal air standards that would inhibit use of “prescribed fire,” a technique used to prevent major wildfires, as environmentalists push back on congressional efforts to promote the practice. In an Oct. 16 policy memo to its regional offices, EPA air chief Aaron Szabo said “any regulatory provisions that would limit strategic deployment of prescribed fire should not...