EPA Halts Flexible Permits That Don't Meet Clean Air Act Requirements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (or TCEQ) submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan. The EPA determined that the program does not meet several national Clean Air Act requirements that help to assure the protection of health and the environment.
The EPA is disapproving the permit program after determining that it allows companies to avoid certain federal clean air requirements by lumping emissions from multiple units under a single “cap” rather than setting specific emission limits for individual pollution sources at their plants.