Under Trump, EPA Seeks to Eliminate Public Hearing Requirement for Air Quality Permits

When it comes to hearing from the public about new sources of air pollution, the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it’s not interested in what you think. They would prefer to rubber-stamp new air pollution behind closed doors.

Eliminating Public Notice & Comment Period

In July, EPA published a proposed change to its rules governing the issuance of new air pollution source permits. The rule was titled “Minor New Source Review Program Air Permitting Public Participation Requirements for State Implementation Plans.” However, the term “minor” does not appear in the Clean Air Act’s provision on permitting, and a wide variety of heavily polluting facilities can get branded as “minor” under EPA procedures. The proposed change would eliminate the requirement that state and local authorities provide public notice and at least a 30-day public comment period (and possibly a public hearing) before issuing these so-called “minor” source permits. 

Stripping Power from Communities

A week ago, a coalition of nearly 200 environmental, health, and community groups filed comments urging the EPA to withdraw its proposal to eliminate the minimum public participation requirements for air pollution permits. “If EPA finalizes its proposal, it will be entirely up to state and local air agencies to decide whether to provide public notice and an opportunity to comment on Clean Air Act minor new source review permits or to instead issue permits behind closed doors,” notes a news release from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). 

An analysis of the impacts of that change filed by this coalition of opponents notes that, “For more than fifty years, EPA’s regulations have required public notice and an opportunity to comment on preconstruction air pollution permits. That longstanding federal requirement reflects the reality that public review improves permitting decisions by identifying underestimated emissions, inadequate pollution limits, insufficient air-quality-impacts analyses, and other errors before construction begins.” 

The coalition of groups opposing the rule change includes other prominent citizen environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and the Center for Biological Diversity, as well as state-level groups.

Communities Bear the Consequences

“Eliminating the opportunity for the public to weigh in on air permits means regulators will have less information to work from when making important decisions that affect everyone’s health. The Trump EPA’s proposal would make it easier for industrial facilities to get the green light to pollute and put the health of more Americans at risk,” said Surbhi Sarang, Senior Attorney, Clean Power at Environmental Defense Fund.

“It’s beyond cruel for Trump’s EPA to silence front-line communities who bear the brunt of unhealthy air,” said Brandon Jones-Cobb, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The agency has already turned its back on science, cut enforcement against industrial polluters and eliminated life-saving air pollution measures. Now it wants to shut the public out of decisions to build or expand facilities that expose communities to dangerous air pollution, including data centers. This EPA is so out of touch with Americans and only focuses on making polluters happy.”

If the EPA finalizes its damaging rule change eliminating public notice and participation requirements, we should expect to see more litigation filed against the Trump EPA.

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