Critics of EPA's landmark greenhouse gas standards for existing power plants, who filed their opening appellate briefs late Feb. 19, are emphasizing their claim that the rule is unlawful and must be vacated because it marks a "breathtaking expansion of the agency's authority" by requiring generation shifting "beyond the fence line" of regulated plants to non-regulated units. The claim - focused on the notion that EPA under section 111 (d) of the Clean Air Act cannot set standards premised on actions taken beyond a plant's "fence line" - is the first and most expansive argument in the nearly 200-page opening merits brief of "core legal issues" filed by the coalition of 25 states led by West Virginia and a wide variety of utility, coal and business associations.
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