Environmental advocates went back to court this week, prompted by two recent Trump administration reversals on regulatory policies intended to curb air pollution from auto plants, refineries and thousands of other industrial enterprises.
In one lawsuit, the Environmental Defense Fund and three other groups contest EPA’s decision last month to scrap a Biden-era proposal to revamp rules dating back to President Donald Trump’s first term that loosened the threshold for deciding whether plant expansions or other major upgrades needed permits under the New Source Review program.
That approach, technically known as “project emissions accounting,” was already targeted in a 2018 lawsuit brought by some of the same groups.
Proceedings in that earlier litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit have long been on hold. It could soon be consolidated with the newly filed lawsuit, according to a recent motion by EDF and the other challengers.
