EPA Reconsiders Final Pollution Decisions

Lynn Schenkman

Washington, D.C. -- The Bush Administration has agreed to hold a 30-day review and a public hearing on what it had previously considered "final" revisions to the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR). On New Year’s eve last year, the Bush Administration relaxed restrictions on installing air quality controls in older facilities, such as oil companies, utilities and manufacturers. Environmental groups claimed President George W. Bush was undoing the environmental controls on pollution put in place by his father, and several groups and states hosting large industrial sites sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to overturn the new rules. The EPA is responding particularly to the claim that the rules did not receive a sufficient public comment period.