Against a backdrop of intense lobbying by business interests, White House and congressional negotiators have agreed to postpone until June 2001 a plan to publicly identify dozens of communities and counties across the United States that are not complying with tougher new smog standards. Environmental groups charge that the postponement will delay the start of the next phase in the campaign by Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce harmful forms of ozone, the principal component in smog. “It sets back the process of cleaning up our air by approximately one year,” the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement. But senior administration officials responded that the concession will have little real impact, since the EPA cannot take action to enforce the new standards until the Supreme Court rules on a challenge to the regulations, which it will probably do next summer. The postponement of the new smog rules was one of several controversial environmental provisions added to the annual bill funding the EPA and its programs.
From Daily Regulatory Reporter
