The Environmental Protection Agency broke procedural rules and rushed new auto emissions regulations, an oil and gas industry group has charged.
In a letter to the EPA, the American Petroleum Institute accused the agency of breaking a stipulation of the Clean Air Act that new rules must be published in the Federal Register, before accepting comments from the public and conducting public hearings,
The Hill reports.
The auto emissions plan makes refiners slash gasoline's sulfur content by more than 60 percent by 2017. The EPA announced it in March. But it still hasn't been published the regulation in the Register.
Still, the EPA put out a notice in April announcing public hearings and the agency's acceptance of comments through June 13.
"What EPA did was issue a pre-publication version and then start the comment deadline before the rule made it to the Federal Register," Patrick Kelly, the Institute's downstream senior policy adviser, said according to The Hill.
"What they're doing is rushing the process in order to shorten the time for industry to be able to provide meaningful comment."
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