An industry group is contesting the accuracy of data from hundreds of soot monitors in a move that could give EPA grounds for delaying a looming set of compliance decisions.
Despite a 2024 fix, the monitors are continuing to produce faulty readings, the NAAQS Regulatory Review and Rulemaking Coalition said in a recently filed petition that asks EPA to suspend use of the data “in cost-imposing regulatory and permitting decisions.”
Under a Clean Air Act timetable, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is supposed to formally decide by the end of next week what parts of the country are flunking the strengthened annual soot exposure standard put in place two years ago during President Joe Biden’s administration. Those decisions would then set the stage for states to submit long-term cleanup plans for failing areas.
Critics, however, question whether EPA under President Donald Trump is committed to meeting that deadline. In addition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has yet to rule on the agency’s motion to throw out the standard, which the administration now says was made in error.
