Court blocks Trump administration's attempt to delay Obama anti-pollution rule

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Donald Trump’s latest effort to block environmental regulations pushed forward by his predecessor has found a foe in the federal court systems.

A federal court has ruled that Mr Trump’s effort to delay an EPA rule to limit methane pollution from oil and natural gas drilling, which was signed by former President Barack Obama. The US District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that the argument laid forth by Scott Pruitt's EPA that the Obama administration had skipped over procedures for stakeholder comment didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

“The administrative record thus makes clear that industry groups had ample opportunity to comment on all four issues on which EPA granted reconsideration, and indeed, that in several instances the agency incorporated those comments directly into the final rule,” the court ruled in a two-to-one decision.

“Because it was thus not ‘impracticable’ for industry groups to have raised such objections during the notice and comment period [the Clean Air Act] did not require reconsideration and did not authorise the stay,” the decision read.

The ruling is an early loss for Mr Trump’s aggressive approach to pulling back on environmental restrictions that Mr Obama remained focused on throughout his presidency. Mr Trump has tried to pull back on a range of rules and regulations put in place to curtail global warming and protect the environment.

Those efforts have included pulling the United States out of the international Paris climate change accord, which Mr Obama had strongly favoured as President. That deal, which Mr Trump said put an undue burden on the US, was a voluntary agreement between nation’s to try and keep greenhouse gas emissions down in order to curb the rise of global average temperatures. The US joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only three nations not to be involved with the deal.

The DC court’s decision follows after groups like the Environmental Defence Fund sued the EPA for the proposed delay, and asked for a quick decision from the courts on the matter.

“This is a big win for public health and a wake-up call for this administration,” Tim Ballo, an attorney with Earthjustice representing some of those involved, said in a statement.

An EPA spokeswoman told the Hill that the agency is reviewing the decision, and evaluating its options.