A recent relaxation of EPA’s Clean Air Act permitting policy is illegal and businesses that seek to take advantage of it could end up in court, three environmental groups told agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in a letter Thursday.
Under the new policy, unveiled early last month, companies can begin construction on new plants before actually getting a New Source Review permit as long as the work doesn’t extend to “emissions units” that produce air pollution. Zeldin had previously said the change was needed to speed construction of both new data centers and power plants to supply them with electricity.
In Thursday’s letter, however, Earthjustice and the other two groups said that EPA’s new approach “would violate the law and threaten the health of millions of people.”
“The [Clean Air] Act expressly requires industries to obtain clean air permits before starting construction to assure that the plant can and will comply with clean air requirements and that impacts and alternatives are fully considered,” the groups added. The law also allows citizen lawsuits against any company that “proposes to construct” a new facility without a permit, they wrote.
