Sean writes about air quality policy and regulations. His work has been honored by the National Press Club and Washington Press Club Foundation, among others; he also contributed a chapter to "Turning Carolina Red," an eBook published by E&E in 2014. He previously reported for the Federal Times and newspapers in Alabama. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from Carleton College and a master's degree in the same subject from Duke University.
EPA faced bipartisan opposition at a public hearing this morning on its planned rejection of "good neighbor" petitions from Maryland and Delaware seeking a federal crackdown on ozone-forming pollution from outside their boundaries.
EPA is failing to fully account for pollution from Mexico and other countries in making compliance decisions for its 2015 ground-level ozone standard, Republican lawmakers charged at a hearing yesterday.
EPA has scheduled a July 10 public hearing and has also pushed back the deadline for written comments on its plans for leaving its primary sulfur dioxide standard unchanged.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments Sept. 11 on three consolidated lawsuits challenging several of EPA's attainment decisions for its primary 2010 sulfur dioxide standard, according to a recently issued order.
The Sierra Club is contesting a fresh EPA attempt to make it easier for businesses to show that proposed new plants or expansions of existing facilities will not significantly affect air quality when they are applying for air permits under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program.