BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Four companies have pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a total of $3.5 million for criminal clean air violations at two Southeast Texas oil and chemical processing facilities. Papers filed in federal court Wednesday in Beaumont show KTX Limited and KTX Properties Inc. pleaded guilty to negligently releasing hazardous air pollutants in a tank explosion at ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for a coalition of states and businesses reliant on fossil fuels made their case Tuesday to a federal appeals court that President Barack Obama’s plan to curtail climate-warming greenhouse gases is an unconstitutional power grab. The Clean Power Plan, which aims to ratchet down carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants, has been challenged by more than ...

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state regulators on Wednesday unveiled an updated plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from large polluters, the latest attempt by Gov. Jay Inslee to push ahead with a binding cap on carbon emissions after struggling to win approval from legislators. Washington would join nearly a dozen states including California that have capped carbon pollution from industrial ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped proposed language from new vehicle emissions restrictions following concerns raised by auto racing. The new standards limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from medium- and heavy-duty engines had included pollution controls on vehicles modified for racing. Both auto racers and members of Congress objected to the proposed language, saying that complying would ...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An environmental group’s lawsuit claims ExxonMobil Corp. continues to violate Clean Air Act regulations despite a 2014 settlement over emissions from the company’s Baton Rouge chemical plant. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network sued the company in federal court on Thursday. The suit alleges that pollution from the plant jeopardizes the health of nearby residents of ...

ALBANY, N.Y. — A coalition of residents and environmental groups is suing a crude oil transporter, claiming violations of the federal Clean Air Act. The coalition consisting of Albany County, a tenants association and six environmental groups filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday against Waltham, Massachusetts-based Global Partners. The lawsuit claims Global failed to obtain a required air pollution permit and ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The state of New Mexico is suing Volkswagen over an emissions cheating scandal that involves millions of cars worldwide. Attorney General Hector Balderas filed the lawsuit in state district court in Santa Fe late Tuesday. He alleges Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and their U.S. subsidiaries violated state air quality regulations and engaged in deceptive trade practices. Earlier this ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a plan Wednesday to address air pollution coming from Texas that is reducing visibility at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, as well as the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks in Texas. “There’s a tradition of rivalry and competition between Oklahoma and Texas, and Oklahomans would never accept Texas messing ...

SALT LAKE CITY — An oil refinery company with operations in Utah has agreed to pay a $1.2 million as part of a settlement with federal regulators over the emission of hazardous air pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice announced the agreement Thursday with HollyFrontier Corp., based in Texas. The company also agreed to install new ...

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency proposed tougher new limits on Tuesday on smokestack emissions from nearly two dozen states that burden downwind areas with air pollution from power plants they can’t control. At the same time, the EPA moved to remove two states — South Carolina and Florida — from the “good neighbor” rules, saying they don’t contribute significant ...