Roberts' Denial Of Bid For Utility MACT Stay Prompts Call To End Litigation

摘要

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has denied a request by 20 states to immediately stay implementation of EPA's power plant maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air toxics rule, prompting environmentalists to call on the states to end their long-running legal challenges to the rule as an April 16 compliance deadline looms. Roberts made the decision March 3 without a written order or explanation, sources say, avoiding the need to consult with the other seven justices on the court that could have split 4-4 on whether to issue a stay. Following news of the decision, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) General Counsel Vickie Patton in a statement called on the state attorneys general challenging the rule, also known as the mercury and air toxic standards (MATS), to end their litigation. She said the MATS - which EDF has intervened on EPA's behalf to defend - "are safeguarding millions of American children from poisons such as mercury, arsenic and acid gases."