Air

Tracking the latest agency and congressional debates over rules to cut emissions of traditional pollutants, and a broad range of novel EPA policies including the agency's shift to a "multipollutant" regulatory approach for individual sectors.

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Tracking the latest agency and congressional debates over rules to cut emissions of traditional pollutants, and a broad range of novel EPA policies including the agency's shift to a "multipollutant" regulatory approach for individual sectors.

EPA RMP rule delay challengers warn against staying litigation

Petitioners challenging EPA's delay of the Obama-era updates to its risk management plan (RMP) facility safety rule say the agency's recent proposal to rescind many of the updates should not be a reason to delay their lawsuit, raising a preemptive argument against such a request and also claiming that the proposal undermines EPA's legal defenses. In a May 25 letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Democratic states, labor unions and environmental groups suing...

Suit Adds To Challenges Over EPA's Raised Bar For Air Permit Objections

Environmentalists are suing EPA to overturn the agency's denial of their petition objecting to a Clean Air Act Title V operating permit for an Exxon petrochemical facility, a new legal battle over the Trump administration's revised policy of no longer objecting to such “umbrella” permits based on alleged defects in underlying permits. After a state issues an air permit under delegated authority from EPA, environmental organizations and other third parties can then petition the agency to object to the permit...

Lawsuit And EPA Petition Denial For Baytown Olefins Plant Permit

Federal Register Notice On Exxon Baytown Refinery Decision

EPA Permit Petition Decision On Exxon Baytown Refinery


Industry seeks to block Hill call for OMB to skip glider RIA

A coalition of trucking and other groups are pushing back against a call by Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) to waive cost-benefit analysis requirements for EPA's proposal to scrap production limits on high-emitting “glider” trucks, urging Capitol Hill staff to recommend that their bosses not sign a letter being circulated by Posey on the issue. “The EPA proposal, if finalized, would have broad negative ramifications beyond allowing the sale of glider vehicles, which could undermine hundreds of thousands of jobs and...

EPA Floats Fuels Policy 'Streamlining' Draft Rule For Deregulatory Effort

EPA air officials are touting the agency's effort to “streamline” its many fuels policies into a smaller group of rules as one way to achieve President Donald Trump's broader deregulatory push at the agency, releasing a “discussion draft” regulation that outlines a slew of proposed technical changes to simplify existing fuels rules. “We are quite serious about this, this is our top regulatory reform” priority right now, said Chris Grundler, director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ),...

Federal Register Notice On Workshop

EPA Discussion Draft Fuels Regulations


Biofuels Groups Skeptical Of EPA's Proposed Boost For 2019 RFS Targets

Biofuels groups are expressing skepticism over an apparent proposal by EPA to boost targets for advanced biofuels production in the agency's pending 2019 renewable fuel standard (RFS), saying the Trump administration's decision to grant a number of RFS compliance waivers for “small” refiners is undermining the market for biofuels. EPA's proposed 2019 RFS targets, which it sent for White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) pre-publication review on May 11 , would boost the required volume for advanced biofuels...

States use lawsuit to pressure EPA release of ozone designations

Several states suing EPA over the agency's long delay in designating areas of the country as either attaining or violating federal ozone standards are using their suit to pressure the agency against any further stalling in issuing the designations, refuting EPA's claims in a recent status report that it has all but completed designations. In a May 22 filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in American Lung Association, et al. v. EPA ,...

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