EPA comes Down in the Middle on Coal Power Plant Emissions

Photo: Wikipedia

Creating firm regulations for the environment has not been the signature of President Trump's administration.  In fact, the opposite is true over the last few years.  The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to roll-back the Obama regulations for the environment.  Mostly out of distaste for the Obama administration exclusively.



Recent reporting from Politico Energy suggests that this commitment to rolling back all of the regulations might not be so bold after all:

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: EPA's emergency rule that temporarily eases requirements to check real-world pollution emitted by power plants during the coronavirus pandemic had originally called for a broader and potentially permanent rule, Pro's Alex Guillén reports this morning.

The final version released by EPA last week underwent changes following a White House review. Since then, the rule has drawn praise from environmental advocates who have typically been critical of the Trump administration's moves, given the unique circumstances. "I could see myself having said yes to this kind of thing," said Janet McCabe, the Obama-era acting air chief at EPA.

But that would not have been the case with EPA's original plan. The rule issued last week was altered following criticisms from the White House review, Alex reports. Documents posted by EPA show one commenter at the Office of Management and Budget questioning that plan, writing: "The interim final rule does not provide any justification or explanation for why this temporary exemption should be made permanent."

John Walke, director of the Clean Air, Climate and Clean Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he was "satisfied" with EPA's rule as finalized, especially since the agency is taking public comment before acting further, in contrast with EPA's broader March enforcement memo that drew widespread criticism from green groups. "At least this represents EPA undertaking a notice-and-comment rulemaking process and amending the regulations to deal with the specific challenges and disruptions represented by Covid-19," he said.

Now, recall that in earlier posts on this blog site, environmental regulations have followed others formed in Congress.  That is if the regulation (i.e., law) is better for society than the law will replace old legislation.   Often new administrations have to test this out in court.  This has been the case with the environmental legislation that the Trump administration has pushed over the last few years.  Although, most of the legislation he has 'rolled back' has resulted in minor adjustments.  Still, environmental advocates are usually not happy in the end.



Which leads me to the current legislation reported above.  Environmental advocates are able to live with the changes.  Meaning, that either side had to give in to the other in the end.  Which resulted?
Therefore, the current change to the EPA rule was an overall win for environmental groups fighting for environmental justice during this administration.