By Sharon L. Caffrey, Jeffrey S. Pollack and Coleen W. Hill
In June 2024, industry and environmentalist parties filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for review of a national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants regulation applicable to commercial sterilization facilities, which was finalized by EPA on April 5, 2024, during the Biden administration. This 2024 rule set new, tighter emission standards for ethylene oxide under the Clean Air Act and required compliance by April 2026. On April 1, 2025, the court granted EPA’s request to stay the litigation while the agency, now under the Trump administration, reconsiders its 2024 rule. While the litigation is now paused, the court denied EPA’s request to remand the 2024 rule without explanation.