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Several States Urge Federal Court to Rule on Clean Power Plan

September 6, 2018

Seventeen states have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration’s efforts to further delay the court’s decision on legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan.

In a filing with the court on September 4, the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, noted that the case—State of West Virginia, et. al. v EPA (No. 15-1363)—claimed that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken “undue advantage” of the now 18-month-long abeyance granted to the agency by the federal court to allow it to review the rule.

The states were joined by the District of Columbia, and the cities of Boulder, Colorado; Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and South Miami, as well as Florida’s Broward County.

The EPA is “prolonging the delay through a series of notices that do not come close to fulfilling EPA’s statutory obligations,” the filing claims.…

Don’t Let EPA Stall on Clean Power Plan, 17 States Tell Federal Court

January 20, 2018

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The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent request that the D.C. Circuit hold a case challenging the Clean Power Plan in additional abeyance until it concludes rulemaking has been strongly opposed by 17 states and several cities.

The EPA, in its latest 30-day court-required status report filed on January 10, asked the federal court for continued abeyance of the massive case. The court heard oral arguments on the merits of the Obama administration’s legacy rule to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants 16 months ago.

But in a joint filing with the court on January 17, 17 states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington—along with the District of Columbia, New York City, Florida’s Broward County, Boulder (Colorado), Chicago, Philadelphia, and South Miami, urged the court to deny additional abeyance.

“Neither EPA’s proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan nor its prolonged and uncertain plans to replace the rule justify additional abeyance,” the parties argued.…

Eight States Sue EPA, Arguing Ozone Transport Region Decision Is “Unlawful”

December 29, 2017

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Eight northeastern states are again suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force the agency to slash emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) blowing in from power plants and other sources in nine “upwind” Midwestern and southern states.

The Ozone Transport Region, which was established by Congress under Section 184 of the Clean Air Act, currently includes 11 “downwind” states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Most of these states have rules or fall under a federal mandate to directly or indirectly require sources achieve reductions of NO_x and VOCs, which contribute to the formation of ozone. In 2014—the most recent year for which the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) is available—about 56% of NO_x emissions in the U.S. came from on-road and non-road mobile sources. Electric generating units accounted for about 13% of NO_x emissions nationwide. The bulk of VOCs emitted were from industrial processes, including solvents (48%) and mobile sources (27%).…