"The Biden administration is deferring a plan to crack down on smog in the drilling hotbed of the Permian Basin, handing a win to oil producers along with their allies in Texas and New Mexico.

The Environmental Protection Agency had been considering formally labeling parts of the region as violating federal air quality standards for ozone — a designation that would have spurred new pollution curbs and potentially deterred drilling in the world’s biggest oil field.

But the administration omitted the policy from an agenda of planned regulations released late Wednesday and instead deemed the measure “inactive,” indicating it’s not expected to be finalized in the next six to 12 months."

Jennifer A Dlouhy reports for Bloomberg January 5, 2023. [2]