On April 13, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling in favor of the EPA on climate change. The D.C. Circuit ruled that the EPA could regulate greenhouse gas emissions for existing power plants as long as it also regulated other pollutants as well.
Various industry groups and several stated had asked the D.C. Circuit to vacate the EPA’s Tailoring Rule. The final Tailoring Rule was issued in 2010. It was to apply to facilities which are among the nation’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, including power plants, refineries, and cement producing facilities. The Rule set thresholds for six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxides, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluorides. The standards were to be implemented in phases. Smaller source s such as small farms, restaurants, and commercial facilities were shielded from compliance under the initial rule.
The April 13 ruling by the D.C. Circuit was made after remand by the U.S. Supreme Court in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, 134 S. Ct. 2427 (2014), which found that the EPA violated the Clean Air Act when it expanded the Act’s Title V and Prevention of Significant Deterioration Programs to include carbon dioxide emissions.
The opponents to the rule sought to force the EPA to go through a new rulemaking process to regulate greenhouse gases.
For more information, contact Toni Ellington at (504) 599-8500.
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