Administration to Undermine Critical Local Air Quality Protections

In one of the most damaging regulatory rollbacks in Clean Air Act history, the administration is expected soon to release a new policy that would fundamentally undermine clean air protections instrumental in protecting local air quality for nearly 25 years.

The current protections, operating under a program called “new source review,” require power plants, refineries, steel mills, chemical companies and other large industrial sources that lack modern pollution control systems to update their pollution reduction technology when they take action that significantly increases air pollution levels. The new policy will broadly exempt these old, high-polluting industrial sources from the requirement to modernize their pollution controls, even when they are significantly increasing air pollution in surrounding neighborhoods and communities.

“For more than two decades, every American has depended on this critical Clean Air Act program to safeguard local air quality, to ensure healthy air for our families and to protect our national parks from air pollution,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney Vickie Patton. “These changes will allow unregulated air pollution increases from large, poorly controlled industrial sources in every neighborhood in America.”

Presently, the new source review program requires old, high-polluting sources to reduce new pollution that will worsen unhealthy air quality in urban centers or adversely impact national parks. The program also gives the citizens affected by the increased pollution notice of the changes and an opportunity to comment on measures to reduce pollution. The administration’s proposal makes sweeping changes to this program that will allow virtually all pollution increases from old, high-polluting sources to go unregulated.

“The President committed to reduce pollution and improve air quality; but this move by his administration will do just the opposite, making it easier for old, dirty power plants to increase pollution without any accountability,” said Patton.

Contact: Vickie Patton 303 440-4901

Allison Cobb 212 505-2100