Ruling Rejecting Kansas SIP Suit Gives Few Hints On Fate Of CSAPR Plans

摘要

A federal appeals court has rejected Kansas' suit over EPA's rejection of its "good neighbor" state implementation plan (SIP) to curb interstate air pollution that the agency replaced with its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), but the ruling offers few hints on how the court might rule on suits over dozens of other vetoed SIPs. In a unanimous unpublished judgment issued May 26, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says that Kansas failed to provide adequate justification to defend its SIP as satisfying the Clean Air Act's good neighbor provision. The law requires states to curb air pollution that crosses state borders and prevents other states from complying with EPA's national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).