A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia at oral arguments appeared highly skeptical of environmentalists suit' challenging EPA's decision to deny their petition to regulate coal mine methane emissions due to limited resources, saying the agency has significant discretion on rulemaking petitions. A source with WildEarth Guardians, the group that filed the petition and suit over EPA's rejection, after arguments observed, "We got raked over the coals, obviously." Judge Harry Edwards at March 25 arguments said EPA had a "highly, highly, highly" deferential standard on how to prioritize its actions and that environmentalists had a "really tough standard of review" with "just this little itty-bitty opening" to challenge EPA's decision to deny their petition to regulate emissions of the greenhouse gas (GHG) methane and other pollutants from coal mines by setting Clean Air Act new source performance standards (NSPS).
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