Virginia AG Jones Joins Lawsuit Against EPA Effort to Roll Back Clean Air Act

Attorney General Jay Jones announced Friday that Virginia will officially rejoin a lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency over a rule change that rolled back parts of the Clean Air Act.

The change to the rule made it so “major sources” of air pollution can be reclassified as “area sources” if there is an effort to reduce emissions. Once reclassified, they would no longer be subject to the major source limitations from the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP). The polluters would also not be required to have a Title V operating permit if they stay below specific emissions thresholds.

Jones said in a press release that the rule change allows the largest polluters to have less stringent guidelines to reduce the amount of harmful pollutants they release into the air.

“The Clean Air Act was put in place to prevent major polluters from releasing toxic emissions into our air that harm our communities and damage our health,” Jones said. “Donald Trump’s effort to create regulatory loopholes so major polluters can operate unchecked is disgraceful.”

Virginia was removed from the lawsuit in 2024 by former Attorney General Jason Miyares, according to Jones’ office.

In 2024, the Biden administration amended the rule to require the major pollution sources to remain in that classification. Now the Trump Administration has undone that change..

This is the second major move by Jones to take a stand on environmental issues. Last week,  he announced that he halted the state’s appeal of a court’s determination that former Gov. Glenn Youngkin unlawfully removed Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The General Assembly is quickly advancing legislation in order to add the state back to the regional carbon capping program and restart the flow of funding for energy efficiency and flood resiliency projects.

Jones has not yet taken a stand on whether Virginia will join Dominion Energy’s lawsuit against the Department of the Interior that put a 90-day pause on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, reportedly due to national security concerns. The project has since resumed while court action continues.

by Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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