The Trump administration could waive or adjust some of industry’s environmental obligations as companies struggle to deal with the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to push back several compliance deadlines, including for oil refiners to switch to summer-grade gasoline, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Switching grades of gasoline helps decrease emissions of ozone and smog during summer months.
An EPA spokesperson, in a statement, said the agency is “in the process of developing guidance regarding enforcement” during the coronavirus outbreak. “We will provide additional information upon its completion,” the spokesperson added.
The EPA has received several requests from industry to ease up on compliance deadlines in the midst of the pandemic. The American Petroleum Institute, in a letter to the agency Monday, asked officials to waive “seasonal fuels requirements,” along with a number of other obligations as part of programs like the Renewable Fuel Standard, the greenhouse gas reporting program, detection and repair of methane leaks, and monitoring for benzene and other air pollutants.
Temporary relief from those obligations “are not expected to result in a significant impact to human health or the environment” but would allow companies to focus on maintaining production, wrote Frank Macchiarola, the oil lobby’s senior vice president of policy, economics, and regulatory affairs.
The EPA is also weighing pushing back deadlines for toxic cleanups and easing enforcement of Clean Water Act requirements for water and wastewater utilities, according to the Wall Street Journal report.
