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Smoke, Screened: The Clean Air Act’s Dirty Secret
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![Firefighters battle the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill, California on September 7, 2022. Photograph: Andrew Nixon/CapRadio](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/13/090722mosquitofirebq3a0468-2.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
What is the exceptional events rule? The loophole letting U.S. regulators wipe air pollution from the record
First pushed through by the Republican senator and climate denier Jim Inhofe, the rule has become a “regulatory escape hatch” for states that want to meet federal air-quality standards.
![A resident who stayed in Foresthill, California despite an evacuation order due to the Mosquito Fire, takes a picture of the wildfire's plume on September 7, 2022. Photograph: Andrew Nixon/CapRadio](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/15/Smoke_Screened_banner_2.png.800x600_q85_crop.png)
Smoke, Screened: How a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans
Major investigation shows local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that’s dirtier than they realize