EPA officials heard impassioned objections to their plan for rolling back or reworking key portions of Biden-era rules aimed at better preventing catastrophic industrial air releases.
“We need more regulation, not less,” said Sofia Martinez, co-coordinator at the Los Jardines Institute, a New Mexico-based community group, during a virtual public hearing held Tuesday afternoon. “Economic growth should not trump safety.”
“While this proposed rule may benefit the short-term profits of private corporations, it is not in the public interest and should be withdrawn,” Rick Engler, who served on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board under former President Barack Obama, said soon after.
The proposal, unveiled last month, would undo large swaths of the “accidental release” regulations put in place two years ago for chemical plants, water treatment operations and thousands of other facilities that must file risk management plans under the Clean Air Act because they store or distribute hazardous chemicals.
