WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is seeking to abandon a rule that sets tough standards for deadly soot pollution, arguing that the Biden administration did not have authority to set the tighter standard on pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks and other industrial sources.
The action follows moves by the administration last week to weaken federal rules protecting millions of acres of wetlands and streams.
In a separate action, the Interior Department proposed new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems.
The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule last year that imposed strict standards for soot pollution, saying that reducing fine particle matter from motor vehicles and industrial sources could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year.
A suit led by attorneys general from Kentucky and West Virginia argued that the EPA rule would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities and families and could block new manufacturing plants.
In a court filing this week, the EPA essentially took the side of the challengers, saying the Biden-era rule was done “without the rigorous, stepwise process that Congress required” and was therefore unlawful.
The Trump EPA is set to propose its own rule early next year.
Environmental groups said the agency’s action — which follows a pledge by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to roll back the soot rule and dozens of other environmental regulations — threatens public health and undermines its obligations under the Clean Air Act.
“EPA’s motion is a blatant attempt to avoid legal requirements for a rollback, in this case for one of the most impactful actions the agency has taken in recent years to protect public health,” said Hayden Hashimoto, an attorney at the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force.
“Walking away from these clean-air standards doesn’t power anything but disease,” said Patrice Simms, vice president of healthy communities at Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm.
/vironmental groups in the legal case.
