Just In: Trump’s EPA Quietly Pushes Back Biz-Crushing Obama-Era Rule

09 Jun, 2017 by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and the Trump administration are quietly delaying the implementation of a major Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air pollution rule from the Obama administration. Governors were notified this week of the delay of an ozone pollution rule. The EPA’s released statement cited “increased regulatory burdens, restrictions on infrastructure investment, and increased cost to businesses.”

The decision to delay the rule is based on a stipulation in the Clean Air Act that would allow the agency to suspend rules up to a year if the agency has “insufficient information” to make compliance decisions. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was thrilled at Pruitt’s decision. He said: “I am grateful for the leadership of EPA Administrator Pruitt in courageously pausing the costly and ineffective ozone rule, and I’m hopeful that the one year delay will provide time for the EPA to review the detrimental effects the ozone rule will have on the Texas economy.”

From Western Journalism:

The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying implementation of a controversial air pollution rule imposed by the Obama administration.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt notified governors this week that the EPA had pushed back to October 2018 its plan to decide which areas were not in compliance with federal standards that lowered the amount of allowable ozone. The Obama-era rule required the EPA to begin selecting areas this month and announce them in October.

Areas not meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone face consequences that could include increased regulatory burdens, restrictions on infrastructure investment, and increased costs to businesses, the EPA said in a statement.

Pruitt said the action reflects work being done at the state level to improve the environment.

“States have made tremendous progress and significant investment cleaning up the air. We will continue to work with states to ensure they are on a path to compliance,” Pruitt said in a statement.

“We are committed to working with states and local officials to effectively implement the ozone standard in a manner that is supportive of air quality improvement efforts without interfering with local decisions or impeding economic growth,” he added.

Obama’s EPA predicted that the rule would result in billions of dollars in economic benefits through improvements in public health. What a joke. No, it wouldn’t, but it would result in more than a $1 trillion dollars spent and lost over this environmental insanity. Pruitt is handing the power back to the states themselves on this, as he should.

Pruitt said that the agency will undertake a review of the rule in response to Republican states and industry suing the Obama-era EPA. He was part of the lawsuit when he was Oklahoma’s attorney general. So, this is a long term fight for him. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) applauded the EPA’s rule delay and said that the agency protects the environment, instead of the previous administration’s heavy-handed approach. Flake said, “It’s great to see the EPA working with Arizonans for a change. Nowhere are the flaws of previous administration’s one-size-fits-all approach to regulating ozone more evident than in Arizona, a desert state where naturally-occurring ozone makes it impossible to meet the new federal mandate. While today’s move buys Arizona much-needed time, I remain committed to advancing a solution that will provide permanent relief from this egregious and unworkable rule.” Flake’s a RINO, but even he sees how harmful this rule is. Pruitt should be commended for this move. It was the right thing to do.