EPA Plan Could Ease Restart Path for St. Croix Refinery by Lifting Upgrade Rules

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has drafted a proposal that could fundamentally alter the United States’ approach to combating climate change, with far-reaching implications for industries, communities, and environmental policy nationwide, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. The plan, submitted to the White House on June 30, 2025, seeks to repeal the 2009 “endangerment finding,” a landmark scientific determination that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane threaten human health and welfare. This finding, rooted in the Clean Air Act, has been the legal cornerstone for regulating emissions from vehicles, power plants, and industrial facilities, including oil refineries like the long-shuttered facility on St. Croix. As the EPA prepares to release the draft for public comment, the move has sparked intense debate over its potential to reshape energy markets, environmental protections, and economic prospects from St. Croix to the mainland United States. The 2009 endange...