EPA unveiled a proposal to dramatically expand industry reporting of hazardous air emissions more than a year ago. It was a step aimed at better pinpointing where people were at risk and to help “ensure everyone has clean air to breathe,” Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
But, as time runs out for President Joe Biden’s administration, a draft of the rule’s final version has been bottled up at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs since the beginning of April.
It’s among 17 rules, along with two notices, backlogged at the regulatory hub. The only agency with a larger inventory is the far bigger Department of Health and Human Services, according to a government tracking website.
Depending on the results of Tuesday’s elections, Biden’s regulatory legacy is on the line. If former President Donald Trump prevails against Vice President Kamala Harris, he has promised to rip up the administration’s rules and could stop any that have not been completed.
