No. 2 gas-producing state moves to curb air pollution
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania is aiming to curb air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from its vast natural gas exploration fields, with the governor’s administration proposing new regulations Thursday even as the Trump administration moves to relax federal requirements.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration brought the proposal to a technical review committee, the first step in what could be a two- to three-year process spurred by a 2016 federal requirement that applies to states and areas that don’t meet certain clean air standards.
Wolf’s office said the governor, a Democrat, is committed to seeing the proposal through, regardless of what Republican President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency does to weaken or repeal the 2016 Obama-era rule.
Wolf’s office said the state has the legal authority to enforce its proposed rule, with or without the federal requirement.