Statement By Acting Attorney General Underwood On EPA's Decision To Gut Critical Safety Provisions Under Clean Air Act

News from the New York Attorney General's Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2018

Attorney General’s Press Office / 212-416-8060
nyag.pressoffice@ag.ny.gov 

STATEMENT BY ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDERWOOD ON EPA’S DECISION TO GUT CRITICAL SAFETY PROVISIONS UNDER CLEAN AIR ACT

New York State Acting Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood issued the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement today that it is proposing to rescind vital improvements to the agency’s chemical accident safety regulations:

“Protecting our workers, first-responders, and communities from chemical accidents should be a priority. By proposing to rescind the core of the chemical accident safety rule, the Trump EPA is again putting special interests before the health and safety of the people they serve. Chemical accidents have continued to occur regularly since Administrator Pruitt’s stay of the rule last June, harming public health and natural resources. EPA cannot turn a blind eye to those facts or its statutory duty under the Clean Air Act to issue regulations that prevent the accidental release of hazardous chemicals into our communities. We will continue to work with the other states in our coalition to fight against the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine these key safety measures.”

The New York Attorney General’s Office led a coalition of 11 Attorneys General that filed a lawsuit in July 2017 challenging Administrator Pruitt’s rule delaying the effective date of a rule that EPA developed over the course of several years to update its original 1996 Risk Management Program regulations. That case was argued before the D.C. Circuit on March 16, 2018, and is pending with the Court for decision.