EPA recently issued final standards to address hazardous air pollution from the brick and clay products industry, leaving out provisions suggested in its draft proposal to exempt facilities based on the level of health risk posed to surrounding communities. As OMB Watch previously documented, the agency originally requested public comment on the use of such “risk-based exemptions” at the urging of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs -- signaling a desire to abandon stringent technology-based controls, which have been successfully employed for more than a decade. Such a regulatory approach -- focused only on facilities whose emissions pose the greatest health risks -- could significantly weaken clean air standards and result in more pollution over time. EPA explains that the risk-based provisions were ultimately left out because the agency has already missed the statutory deadline for completion of the brick and clay standards and that the exemptions raised “a number of complex issues.” EPA also sought comments on the risk-based exemptions in the context of five other recent air proposals, and makes clear that it has not ruled out the possibility of including the provisions in these forthcoming standards. “We expect to continue to consider risk-based approaches in connection with other proposed NESHAP [air pollution measures] where we have described and solicited comment on such approaches,” according to the agency.