EPA has once again proposed jettisoning an Ohio rule that helps citizens take industrial air polluters to federal court.
The agency made a similar move in the first Trump administration, only to see it reversed by the Biden administration after litigation revealed it had come at the behest of a lobbyist.
At issue is the “air nuisance rule” (ANR), a part of Ohio’s state implementation plan (SIP) for addressing the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Included in Ohio’s plan since 1974, the rule bars emissions of pollutants that “endanger the health, safety or welfare of the public.”
It also allowed citizens to sue over such emissions, which environmentalists argued was important for local residents to fight back— such as with a 2017 lawsuit against Suncoke Energy alleging harm from a coke facility’s emissions. That case was ultimately settled in 2021.
