EPA Reverses Stance in Defense of Ban on Most Uses of Solvent

The EPA will no longer support two positions it previously took in a brief defending a rule that banned most uses of methylene chloride, the agency told a federal appeals court on Monday.

The Environmental Protection Agency notified the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that the agency is reconsidering two legal positions detailed in its December brief. “EPA will not defend its former positions on those issues at oral argument” set for June 3 in the 2024 methylene chloride rule challenge, the agency told the court.

The first policy is the agency’s decision to determine whether ...