EPA is sued for suspending pollution rules
California, along with eight other states, sued the Trump administration Wednesday over the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to stop requiring companies to monitor and report air and water pollution during the coronavirus pandemic.
Three days after receiving a request from the American Petroleum Institute to halt pollution enforcement, the EPA’s compliance director, Susan Parker Bodine, announced a new policy March 26. Retroactive to March 13, when President Trump had declared a state of emergency over COVID19, Bodine said, businesses could decide for themselves when it would no longer be practical to monitor pollution and report it to federal, state and local agencies.
Bodine said companies should try to comply with reporting and monitoring laws but would not be penalized for violations caused by the coronavirus. She did not say how the EPA would learn of any such violations if they were not reported.
The agency “recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” EPA Administrator
Andrew Wheeler said in a statement accompanying the new policy.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in a New York federal court, the states said the policy violated numerous federal pollution laws and the EPA’s duty to protect the environment.
The rollback, if it stands, will force states to try to “fill EPA’s enforcement shoes at a time when they are increasingly strapped for resources, or risk the health of our residents,” the suit said.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that the Trump administration “is trying to use the current public health crisis to sweep environmental violations under the rug. What’s worse, the administration is doing so even as evidence grows that communities exposed to air pollution are at increased risk” from the coronavirus.
The EPA issued a statement saying its policy “is a lawful and proper exercise of the Agency’s authority under extraordinary circumstances. ... EPA’s enforcement authority and responsibility remains active and the temporary guidance does not allow any increase in emissions. This is not a nationwide waiver of environmental rules.”
The agency was sued in the same court on April 16 by environmental groups seeking to require the EPA to determine when a company had stopped complying with environmental laws, and to immediately notify the public.
The states said in their lawsuit that the EPA is no longer requiring companies to monitor emissions of air and water pollution or to test storage tanks and other facilities that contain hazardous wastes. The new policy also suspends federal time limits for storage of hazardous wastes if the owner cites the coronavirus as a reason, the suit said.
The changes will lead to more chemical spills and “likely will result in increased air and water pollution,” endangering residents who live nearby, downwind or downstream, the suit said.
New York’s attorney general took the lead in the suit, which was joined by California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Vermont and Virginia.