California has a waiver under the 1970 Clean Air Act to set its own air pollution regulations, and a dozen other states follow its lead. If the Trump administration loosens federal pollution rules, California has vowed to stick with its own stricter standards and to sue the administration. The details of the proposal are largely similar to those in a draft version described by The New York Times in April, according to people who have seen the plan. After its publication, the administration will take public comment before potentially revising and releasing its final plan, expected this year. While the 11 people familiar with the talks described a bitter feud between Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Rosen over how to proceed, Mr. Wheeler described the negotiations between the agencies as “business as usual.”“This assertion of a ‘nuclear war’ is categorically false,” he said in a statement.

Source: New York Times July 27, 2018 09:00 UTC