"EPA has revived a bid to scrap a Clean Air Act liability shield for the electric power sector and other industries, launching a new round in a see-saw regulatory fight that now crisscrosses three administrations.
The proposal, signed earlier this week by EPA chief Michael Regan, would drop “emergency affirmative defense” provisions from state and federal operating permit regulations. Those provisions let polluting sources avoid liability in enforcement cases by showing that violations of emissions limits stem from “acts of God” and other “reasonably unforeseeable events” that require immediate action to resume normal operations.
The removal “is consistent with other EPA actions involving affirmative defenses and would harmonize the enforcement and implementation of emission limitations across different CAA programs,” the draft rule states."
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