Manufacturing Dive recently spoke with Associate Nikki Waxman (Washington, DC) on the U.S. Environmental Protection Association's (EPA) reconsideration process for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and other regulations. The article, "EPA's Environment Regulations Reconsideration Process Can Take Months — or Years," discusses EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's announcement that the Agency would soon undertake efforts to roll back 31 environmental regulations that cut across industry sectors.
Nikki explained that, to weaken NESHAP, the Trump administration would have to implement a two-year presidential exemption. Nikki said that for the Administration to use this exemption, it would require a demonstration to prove pollution control technologies used to reduce toxic emissions from facilities are not available and that the move is in the interest of national security
Another point Nikki made was that for EPA to reconsider these rules, the Agency has "to show that they've done their homework, too. They at least need to show that, in addition to reviewing data that they have themselves, they are reviewing all of the data that will be submitted in these upcoming comment periods."
Nikki also emphasized the importance manufacturers keeping an "eye out on the regulations and gather all the technical support data to submit when the commenting periods for the reconsidered rules open."
As Deputy Chair of B&D's Air, Climate Change practice, Nikki supports clients across all sectors in achieving their emissions compliance goals. Nikki works with air pollution regulations arising under the Clean Air Act and state and local air pollution statutes.