EPA Argues States Lack Standing To Challenge Landfill Methane Rule Delay

摘要

EPA is arguing that California and other states lack standing to sue over its delay in implementing an Obama-era landfill methane rule and thus their suit must be dismissed, disputing that the states in the case are entitled to the "special solicitude" the Supreme Court granted states on climate change in its landmark Massachusetts v. EPA decision. In a Feb. 19 filing in support of summary judgment in the case, State of California, et al. v. EPA, et ah, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, EPA argues that the states lack standing "because they have not met their burden of demonstrating that their alleged climate-related injuries are fairly traceable to EPA's inaction with respect to state plans and a federal plan" under the 2016 rule to reduce the potent greenhouse gas methane from landfills.