SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is moving to close a regulatory loophole that let industries exceed pollution limits and escape sanctions by blaming malfunctioning equipment.

A change in state regulations that would eliminate the loophole withstood a federal appeals court challenge this week from US Magnesium, a Utah company that had a history of spewing chlorine gas in the 1990s before working out the kinks in new pollution controls, state regulators said.