Fourteen states and a coalition of five environmental health organizations have launched legal challenges to the Bush administration’s overhaul of the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review program, which relaxes limits on air pollution from factories, refineries, and power plants.

EPA has significantly weakened a rule to address wastewater from facilities that manufacture, rebuild or maintain metal parts, products, or machines, covering only 2,400 facilities rather than the 89,000 covered by the original Clinton-era proposal. The rule, signed by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman on February 14, lays out narrow standards that apply only to facilities that generate oily wastewater, one of eight industry subcategories included in the original proposal.

The Environmental Protection Agency published a weak final rule on February 12 to limit runoff from livestock waste, requiring about 15,500 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to obtain permits under the Clean Water Act. The rule, originally announced in December, waters down an earlier proposal by the Clinton administration, cutting the number of affected operations by more than half. The Clean Water Network provides a side-by-side comparison of the new rule with the Clinton proposal, as well as a fact sheet describing the administration’s plan.

EPA is issuing a weak final rule to limit nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from new marine diesel engines in large ships and tankers. The standards are equivalent to those contained in a previous international agreement, which manufacturers are already meeting, and are not expected to have much effect. Initially, EPA favored taking stronger action, but OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs blocked this effort in its review of the agency’s proposed rule.