The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a major overhaul to air quality regulations on Tuesday, looking to strip away a Biden-administration rule that forced states to stick with old paperwork requirements even after their local air quality improved.
Under the new proposal, the Trump administration’s EPA wants to untangle state agencies from what it calls unnecessary bureaucratic loops. Currently, a January 2025 rule requires states to keep filing specific paperwork tied to an area’s past ozone pollution history, even if that area has officially moved to a new classification under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
The agency argues that the Clean Air Act was never meant to hold states to multiple classifications at the exact same time. If the new changes go through, a state’s current ozone ranking—not its old one—will be the only thing determining its planning requirements. EPA officials noted that this will apply to all past and future reclassifications tied to the 2008 and 2015 ozone standards.
“Part of cooperative federalism means listening to our regulatory partners about what is working and what is not. Unsurprisingly, the Biden-era rule is causing more confusion, more headaches, more pointless paperwork, but not cleaner air,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “If finalized, our proposal will help state, local, and Tribal air regulators focus resources on measured, relevant Clean Air Act requirements. This proposal is working to ensure EPA is implementing the best reading of the law in a way that is firmly grounded in statute and that provides cleaner air for all Americans.”
The federal agency stated that the current setup forces local regulators to waste valuable time and money duplicating efforts. By making the planning requirements cumulative rather than repetitive, the EPA says state, local, and Tribal regulators will have the flexibility to adjust their actual strategies to real-time, current environment conditions on the ground.
While the paperwork rules are on the chopping block, the EPA is keeping the actual deadlines for State Implementation Plan submissions and rollouts exactly as they were written in the January 2025 rule. The public now has 30 days to weigh in on the proposal, which has been published on the official EPA website.
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