Appellate Ruling Blocks EPA From 'Grandfathering' Air Permit Waivers

摘要

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has scrapped a permit EPA issued for the Avenal Power natural gas utility in California that "grandfathered" the plant from having to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) and stricter conventional pollutant limits finalized during the permitting process, saying EPA lacked power to waive the limits. While the case, Sierra Club v. EPA, et al., was relatively unique, the unanimous decision is a setback for EPA, limiting the agency's discretion to offer site-specific grandfathering like it did for Avenal, because it will ensure that plants in the eight Western states in the circuit must meet all current permitting regulations. "To our knowledge, no other project has been given a similar [grandfathering] deal," one environmentalist says. "The decision closes the door on this kind of exemption and makes it clear that projects must meet all standards in effect at the time of permitting, even if the permit is overdue," the source adds. While the court in this case blocked EPA from waiving air quality limits in a permit, the agency has adopted similar grandfathering provisions in a host of air quality standards, which unlike the Avenal permit were subject to notice-and-comment rulemakings.