Federal judges have agreed to give the Trump administration two months to stake out its position in legal proceedings over EPA’s decision last year to tighten a key air pollution standard.
In a one-page order released Tuesday morning, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the agency’s motion for a 60-day freeze in the litigation surrounding the stricter annual limit on airborne soot.
EPA lawyers had sought the hold a week ago, writing that “courts have long recognized that agencies may generally review and, if appropriate, revise their past decisions.” The hold could now be the first step under President Donald Trump to partially rolling back or reversing the Biden administration regulation.
The panel, which had held oral arguments in the case two months ago, ordered EPA officials to file a motion by April 28 on how they then want to proceed.
