Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today filed a brief advancing Texas’ legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its decision to disapprove the State’s Flexible Permits Program. In a legal brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Attorney General’s office explains that EPA improperly rejected the state’s successful air permitting program – and did so more than 16 years after it was established and utilized by Texas regulators.
The release from Attorney General Abbott’s office states, “by rejecting Texas’ Flexible Permits Program, the EPA has unilaterally declared that the program is not in compliance with federal law.” “The EPA’s decision not only imposes significant uncertainty on entities that employ thousands of Texans, but it threatens the livelihood of their employees – who depend upon those facilities for their jobs.”
Today’s brief follows Attorney General Abbott’s July 26 petition for review of EPA’s disapproval. The EPA will have a chance to reply to Texas’ brief, which was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
A number of industry groups, including the Texas Oil & Gas Association and the Texas Association of Manufacturers, also filed a brief this month in the same court.
