March 2003: EPA Lawyer Questions Legality of Pollution Exemption

A lawyer in the EPA’s general counsel’s office writes a confidential memo warning about the legal vulnerability of the proposed exemption (see January 14, 2002) for wood product plants from formaldehyde emission standards. The lawyer writes that the proposed exemption would result “in a regulatory approach equivalent to the one Congress specifically rejected” in 1990. “EPA would have a difficult time articulating any rational basis to defend such a… scheme.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/21/2004]