US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator E. Scott Pruitt signed a memorandum describing a “back to basics” process for reviewing the federal Clean Air Act’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The memo assures that EPA and its independent science advisors take a transparent, efficient, and timely approach, he said on May 10.
The memo’s principles will reform the process for setting NAAQS in a manner consistent with cooperative federalism and the rule of law, Pruitt maintained. “Getting EPA and its advisors back on track with CAA requirements, statutory deadlines, and the issuance of timely implementation rules will assure that we continue the dramatic improvement in air quality across our country,” he said.
The reforms advance initiatives US President Donald Trump set out in an Apr. 12 memorandum directing Pruitt to take specific actions to ensure efficient and cost-effective NAAQS implementation, including permitting decisions for new and expanded manufacturing facilities and with respect to the Regional Haze Program.
EPA said Pruitt’s memo commits it to begin the next review of the ground-level ozone NAAQS so it can finalize any revisions by the October 2020 deadline under the CAA. It also requires that the agency complete its review of the particulate matter NAAQS by December 2020.
Responding to Pruitt’s announcement, an American Petroleum Institute official noted that US ozone concentrations have fallen 17% since 2005, partly due to the oil and gas industry’s investments to improve the environmental performance of its products, facilities, and operations.
“We look forward to continuing this progress in achieving our shared goals of protecting public health and the environment and meeting the nation’s energy needs,” API Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Senior Director Howard J. Feldman said.
Manufacturers applaud EPA for recognizing the problems that have plagued past air quality determinations and for taking strong steps to correct them, observed Ross Eisenberg, the National Association of Manufacturers VP for Energy Resources. “We hope today’s announcement leads to better, more effective regulations and improved air quality,” he said.
The US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Ranking Minority Member strongly criticized Pruitt’s plans.
“Just last week, after being compelled by the courts, Mr. Pruitt’s EPA begrudgingly submitted ozone nonattainment designations under the NAAQS program—a full 6 months after they were required by law,” Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) said on May 10. “Today’s decision by EPA undermines the science-based review process for the NAAQS, and it is just one more attempt by Mr. Pruitt to avoid performing EPA’s basic duty to ensure clean air for every American.”
Congress clearly intended that the NAAQS process would use the best available science to protect public health, Carper said. “Mr. Pruitt’s decision today to undermine that science-based process fails to live up to the letter of the law. Instead, these changes are a thinly veiled effort to inject politics into what has always been a health- and science-based review process,” Carper stated.
“Crafted without any meaningful review of public health data to evaluate the real-life impacts, Mr. Pruitt is once again making life-altering decisions that benefit his lobbyist and industry friends, at the expense of the health of the American people,” he said.
