Federal court blocks Trump EPA on air pollution

The following article by Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson was posted on the Washington Post website July 3, 2017:

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

An appeals court Monday struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s 90-day suspension of new emission standards on oil and gas wells, a decision that could set back the Trump administration’s broad legal strategy for rolling back Obama-era rules.

In a 2-to-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the EPA had the right to reconsider a 2016 rule limiting methane and smog-forming pollutants emitted by oil and gas wells but could not delay the effective date while it sought to rewrite the regulation.

The agency has proposed extending the initial delay to two years; the court will hold a hearing on that suspension separately. Continue reading “Federal court blocks Trump EPA on air pollution”