EPA Plan To Appeal NSR Case Risks Ruling Further Limiting Enforcement

摘要

EPA's plan to appeal a recent loss in a Clean Air Act new source review (NSR) district court case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is fraught with risk, legal sources say, because the court could back other rulings that have restricted NSR enforcement - or back EPA and tee up a future Supreme Court case that might severely hamper NSR enforcement. "If the 5th Circuit rules against EPA, it is another nail in the coffin" of NSR as a program requiring strict emissions control permits during preconstruction of facility upgrades, says a legal source. "But if they don't appeal, they are stuck with the idea that all these cases are going the way" of EPA's industry opponents, the source says.