The D.C. Circuit dismissed Arizona's objection to a consent decree that established a timeline for EPA to approve a SIP, or promulgate a federal implementation plan (FIP), that would meet the requirements of the Regional Haze Rule. A lower court held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the objection...
The D.C. Circuit vacated an EPA rule establishing nonconformance penalties (NCPs) for on-highway, heavy-duty diesel engines. NCPs are intended to protect "technological laggards" by allowing them to pay a penalty for engines temporarily unable to meet new or revised emission standards. EPA establish...
The D.C. Circuit remanded for reconsideration EPA's revisions to the secondary, welfare-based NAAQS for ozone, but denied petitions challenging revisions to the primary, health-based ozone NAAQS. Primary standards set limits to protect public health, including the health of "sensitive" populations s...
The Michigan Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion, upheld the state environmental agency's decision to issue two permits authorizing modifications at a coal-fired power plant. The plant is located in a county that violates the NAAQS for particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5). An env...
The D.C. Circuit dismissed as moot truck engine manufacturers' lawsuit challenging four certificates of conformity EPA issued to another engine manufacturer pursuant to an interim final rule that allowed certificates to be issued to 2012 and 2013 model-year engines even if the engines fail to confor...
A district court denied industry groups' motion to intervene in a CAA citizen suit concerning EPA's alleged failure to review the ozone NAAQS in a timely manner. The underlying lawsuit concerns whether EPA has failed to perform a mandatory duty to review the ozone air quality standards, and whether ...
The Supreme Court of Kansas reversed and remanded the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's decision to issue a prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit to a power company to construct an 895-megawatt coal-fired power plant. An environmental group filed suit against the state age...
The Eighth Circuit vacated and remanded EPA's best available retrofit technology (BART) determination for a large power plant in North Dakota, but otherwise upheld EPA's partial disapproval of two SIPs submitted by North Dakota to meet the CAA's visibility requirements as well as the Agency's federa...
The Eleventh Circuit reversed a lower court decision excluding the testimony of two expert witnesses in the government's case against a power company for making major modifications at three of its coal-fired power plants without obtaining a permit or installing modern pollution control devices. The ...