EPA says it’d take over Idaho air quality regulation if HB 282 becomes law

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The federal Environmental Protection Agency says it would likely intervene in how Idaho protects its air quality if the Legislature passes the latest effort to gut auto emissions testing in Canyon County. Rep. Brent Crane of Nampa has become the latest standard bearer for what’s become an annual — but decidedly longshot — effort to kill emissions tests that his constituents brand a government overreach. A similar measure died last year. Crane’s bill, HB 282, would end testing, prohibit the state Department of Environmental Quality from regulating vehicle pollution and repeal regional air quality councils. In its letter Monday, EPA regulators warned Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Director Toni Hardesty that such a law could prompt the federal agency to assume oversight of how Idaho complies with federal Clean Air Act requirements.