The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated Virginia's authority to enforce certain federal air pollution standards. This change allows Virginia to implement and enforce federal standards for hazardous air pollutants and new source performance standards, which are rules designed to control air pollution from specific sources. The update ensures Virginia can continue to enforce these standards as they are updated in federal regulations. The EPA also informed Virginia that the exemption for startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) periods should no longer be allowed due to a court ruling.
Simple Explanation
The EPA told Virginia they can now help with making sure people follow certain air pollution rules, but they can't ignore pollution that happens when machines start or stop anymore, because a court said so.