A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the Clean Air Act by rejecting a Texas program for approving air permits. The ruling by a divided three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerns the EPA's 2010 rejection of the state's flexible permitting program. That decision forced more than 100 industries, including cement manufacturers, to work directly with the EPA to get operating papers. By a 2-1 vote, the 5th Circuit struck down the EPA's rejection of the flexible permitting program and told the EPA to reconsider it.