Bowling Green Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), a senior member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, released a statement after introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution regarding the Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recent rule that would reinstate the “Once In, Always In” hazardous air pollutants rule.

“Today I was proud to introduce this Congressional Review Act Resolution alongside my colleagues to help repeal the EPA’s unnecessary 'Once In, Always In' policy to protect the Trump administration’s cost-effective regulatory framework for facilities that reduce their hazardous air pollutant profile. The Biden-Harris EPA has mistakenly reimplemented an unnecessary rule that does not allow for facilities to redesignate from a 'Major Source' to an 'Area Source' even if a facility brings down its emissions to meet lower requirements. Under the Trump administration, businesses and facilities were able to reclassify their source designation once they were able to prove that their emissions were reduced, allowing them to lower their compliance costs and further incentivize industries to bring down their emissions. We cannot allow this radical Biden-Harris EPA to continue to raise costs on consumers and crush our economic development. We must return to the framework of the Trump administration to both further incentivize the lowering of emissions and lower the costs of overly bureaucratic compliance on businesses across the nation,” said Congressman Guthrie.

Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, covered sources that emit more than 10 tons per year of one hazardous air pollutant (HAP) or 25 tons of a combination of HAPs are designated as “Major Sources” and are subject to strict compliance requirements and continuous monitoring directives. Entities that emit less than this threshold are designated as “Area Sources” and are subject to less stringent requirements.

In 2020, the Trump administration reversed a 1995 regulation on EPA’s “Once in Always in” policy covering HAP sources that stated a covered entity classified as a Major Source cannot reclassify as an Area Source even if they reduce their emissions footprint below the requisite threshold.

The Trump administration EPA revised the “Once in Always In” rule to allow Major Sources to re-designate as Area Sources if their technology standards proved a lower HAP footprint. This rewarded covered sources that reduce their emissions below the Major Source threshold with more cost-effective regulations and provided more flexibility in Clean Air Act compliance requirements.

In September 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration reversed this Trump-era rule, effectively retaining compliance requirements for Major Source entities that re-designate as Area Sources and eliminating incentives for lowering their HAP footprint.

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