EPA Policy Reversal Cited As Defense For Permits Avoiding NO2 Standard

摘要

A Louisiana-based iron manufacturing facility and Kansas' environment department are citing a recent EPA policy reversal to defend Clean Air Act permits from having to meet the agency's strict 1-hour nitrogen dioxide (NO2) ambient air standard, though EPA has already opposed the Kansas attempt as a misreading of its policy shift. EPA's policy is outlined in a Jan. 31 supplemental declaration by EPA air chief Gina McCarthy in an ongoing lawsuit, Avenal Power LLC v. EPA, in which she said that agency officials planned to adopt a new policy exempting permits that have yet to be "issued" for complying with air quality limits that took effect after the permits were first sought. Prior to the declaration, EPA issued a memo barring any such exemptions for Clean Air Act permits.