The Trump administration won a delay in yet another legal challenge to an Obama-era environmental regulation, this one over state plans to control industrial air pollution during periods when equipment starts up, shuts down or malfunctions. The regulation at issue, known as a SIP Call, required 36 states to revise their state implementation plans to remove language that the Obama administration determined to be in violation of the Clean Air Act. The provisions the Environmental Protection Agency flagged include previously approved language that exempted industrial facilities from complying with emissions standards during startup and shutdown, and affirmative defense provisions that shielded power plants, refineries and other pollution sources from being assessed civil penalties associated with violations that resulted from unavoidable equipment malfunctions.
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