Lamont admin pans federal rollback of environmental regulations
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of rolling back numerous environmental and clean air regulations, in an effort to deregulate environmental policies.
In an announcement on Wednesday, the EPA said it had initiated 31 actions, including terminating the Environmental Justice and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion arms of the federal agency.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called it “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen,” saying the changes will help lower Americans’ cost of living, create opportunities to generate more energy and bring back jobs in the automotive industry.
In Connecticut, state officials were less enthused.
“These rollbacks are especially damaging for downwind states like Connecticut, which rely on federal protections to prevent other states’ pollution from impacting our air quality,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in an announcement Thursday.
As a downwind state, Connecticut receives air pollution from other states that are located upwind, particularly those in the Midwest.
That creates challenges for Connecticut to manage its air quality, as a significant portion of its pollution comes from sources outside its borders and control.
“While we have made great strides in implementing an entire suite of control strategies to reduce air pollution in Connecticut, because we are a downwind state, only the federal government can address the significant amount of air pollution that originates from outside our borders,” Lamont said.
Lamont went on to urge the EPA to reconsider the changes.
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes said the EPA’s rollbacks target protections from mercury, ozone and other toxic emissions. The pollutants emanate from sources like coal-fired power plants and gas-powered vehicles, she said.
Dykes noted that Connecticut’s ozone levels have exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for nearly 50 years.
“This EPA announcement attacks the tools we have available to protect our residents,” Dykes said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a majority of the EPA’s 31 actions are reconsiderations of existing policies, including regulations on power plants, the oil-and-gas industry, vehicles and wastewater.
In 2020, Connecticut joined four other states in filing a lawsuit against the EPA, alleging that the federal agency violated the Clean Air Act by failing to protect downwind states from other states’ pollution, according to the Yale Daily News.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments