Extending Pause, D.C. Circuit Rejects Calls For Merits Ruling In CPP Suit

摘要

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is rejecting calls by backers of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule to issue a decision on the merits in the long-paused litigation over the rule, and is instead continuing to hold the case in abeyance while the Trump EPA crafts its narrow replacement policy. The D.C. Circuit's brief Dec. 21 per curiam order extends the court's practice of issuing 60-day abeyances in the original CPP litigation, West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, et al., which has now been on hold for nearly two years. The order is available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 217891) Of note, the opinion was joined by all of the D.C. Circuit judges participating in the case, even though some of the judges had earlier expressed unease with a continued abeyance, given that the underlying rule remains stayed by the Supreme Court pending resolution of the litigation. That spurred states and environmental groups that support the CPP to aggressively urge the D.C. Circuit to rule on the merits of the challenge. The full court in September 2016 heard marathon oral arguments in the case, but it paused the suit shortly after the Trump administration took office and began reconsidering the rule.