The EPA faced opposition from all sides this week during a round of public hearings on a proposed rule to set new particulate matter levels under national air law.
Environment and health groups lambasted the agency’s proposal to only adjust levels from 12 to between 9 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter, while industry interests balked at any changes to the status quo levels. This contention puts the Environmental Protection Agency at a crossroads, likely setting up future legal challenges regardless of where the final rule lands.
The EPA began reconsidering the current levels of particulate matter, or PM 2.5, ...