Carlos E. Colón-Franceschi

On May 11, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance promoting an expedited process for Title V operating permits under the Clean Air Act. The guidance directs permitting authorities, where possible, to run the public's 30-day comment period concurrently with EPA's 45-day review period, rather than sequentially.

On May 28, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule reinstating the longstanding emergency affirmative defense provision under the Clean Air Act's Title V operating permit programs (the "Emergency AD" rule). The rule restores the regulatory text at 40 C.F.R. § 70.6(g), governing state operating permit programs, and its parallel provision at 40 C.F.R. § 71.6(g), governing the federal operating permit program, to their form before EPA rescinded them in a July 2023 rulemaking (88 FR 47029).