Now it’s likely the environmental groups will have to file their own lawsuit with the 10th Circuit, demanding the EPA’s tougher open-access rule be put back in place.
Coloradans wanting to check up on actual air pollution emissions from oil and gas or other sites will be “getting just the tip of the iceberg,” said Ryan Maher of the Center for Biological Diversity, which along with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has been challenging Colorado’s open records rules. “And the EPA and Colorado are saying, well, that’s all the public needs.”
Adding insult to Coloradans, Maher said, is that the EPA reversed its position on the open records rules without consulting any public groups or individuals.