EPA Asks Court To Dismiss Suit Seeking Live Coal Ash Rule Hearings

摘要

EPA is asking a federal district court to dismiss environmentalists' suit seeking new hearings on its newest rule governing coal ash disposal, arguing there is no "non-discretionary duty" to hold in-person hearings on proposed waste rules and that only appellate courts can hear litigation over the ash rule now that it is final. In an Oct. 2 motion filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, EPA says plaintiffs in the case are wrong to argue in-person hearings are mandatory under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), that the suit falls outside the district court's jurisdiction and that they lack standing to sue because they have identified no "concrete harm" to their members.