"The director of Illinois' environmental agency abruptly reversed positions last year on a key air quality compliance recommendation after being contacted by Clint Woods, the deputy head of EPA's air office, according to public records cited in federal court litigation.
In 2016, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency had proposed that McHenry County, due west of Chicago, be deemed out of compliance with the 2015 ground-level ozone standard. But as U.S. EPA neared a final decision in April of last year, Alec Messina, the state agency's director at the time, got an early morning email from Woods asking if he had a few minutes 'for a quick call about ozone.'
'The administrator asked me to reach out with 2 quick questions,' Woods wrote in an apparent reference to then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt. While the ensuing email chain does not spell out the gist of their conversation, Messina sent Pruitt a one-paragraph letter the next day saying that 'it would seem appropriate' to instead consider designating McHenry County in attainment with the 70 parts per billion standard. U.S. EPA made the recommendation final later that year.
The emails, obtained through an open records request by environmental groups suing to overturn the decision, are part of the record of the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit."
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