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Discusses the revision of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) New Source Review rule. Declaration that the revision can help power-plant operators escape from pollution liabilities; Statement of Jeffery R. Holmstead, proponent of the new rule, on the charges against the new rule; Details of the report prepared by EPA's inspector general, Nikki L. Tinsley.

Reports that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush announced changes that would loosen industrial air pollution rules. Statement from the administration that the initiatives would encourage plant improvements that would clean the air; Criticism of the changes by environmentalists, Democrats, and Republicans; Plans from attorneys general in six states to sue; Description of how an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made the announcement; Written statement by EPA administrator Christie Whitman; Specifics of the changes; Implications of the policies for plants that are exempt from the 1977 Clean Air Act; Application of the rules at industrial plants, oil refineries and manufacturing plants.

Discusses the impacts that possible changes to the enforcement of the Clean Air Act would have on air pollution lawsuits against power plants in the United States. Why the administration of President George W. Bush may withdraw from such lawsuits in the Midwest and Southern States; Statement that the Northeast states will have difficulty pursuing the cases without the support of the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department; Proposed changes to the enforcement program; Details of lawsuits.