"Under Obama, the agency has delayed action repeatedly on a 2010 vow to set tougher smog standards, as critics in industry and the Republican Party argue that regulations kill jobs."
"Washington -- The Obama administration, facing withering criticism from industry that environmental rules are behind the stalled economy, appears poised to miss another key deadline for new standards to clean up smog, lobbyists and environmentalists contend.
After agreeing to work with environmentalists who had sued over the standards, the Environmental Protection Agency has delayed issuing rules on low-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, four times since 2010.
Most recently, it brushed aside a self-imposed July 29 deadline. Many in industry and the environmental community had expected the EPA to issue the rules and implementation guidelines by an Aug. 12 deadline to file a proposal for next steps with a court, as part of a pending lawsuit. But administration officials, industry lobbyists and environmentalists now expect the EPA to miss that deadline too.
The delay would be the latest the administration has made on environmental regulations since the midterm election, as emboldened critics in industry and the Republican Party have honed their narrative that regulations kill jobs."
Neela Banerjee reports for the Los Angeles Times August 9, 2011.
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