Air

Following a series of court losses, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is mulling narrow new guidance to federal agencies for how to consistently consider greenhouse gas emissions in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, after it withdrew a detailed guide the Obama CEQ issued on the topic after years of work.

The National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) is faulting EPA's plan to revise and ease its enforcement policy on tampering with aftermarket auto emissions control parts such as catalytic converters by warning that it will not adequately protect air quality, and is calling on the agency to instead pursue strict new emissions rules for the parts.

Democratic-led states are at odds with a manufacturing industry coalition over a Trump EPA plan to rescind Obama-era rules extending refrigerant management and leak guidelines to appliances that use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are a potent short-term greenhouse gas.

EPA's enforcement office is moving closer to updating a 45-year-old policy for how the agency enforces against tampering of aftermarket engine parts, including catalytic converters, clarifying that if manufacturers can demonstrate with test data that their products meet emissions requirements, then EPA will exercise discretion to limit enforcement.