Utilities Rebut EPA Claims Over Power To Impose Interstate Emission Cuts

摘要

Utilities are rebutting EPA's claim that the Clean Air Act gives it broad authority to grant petitions from states asking it to directly impose emissions controls on industrial sources in neighboring states, saying the law requires that EPA first gave states a chance to fix the problem before imposing a federal air pollution control plan. In recent legal briefs, utility GenOn and others say'that EPA's interstate emissions control authority under section 126 of the air law only serves as a "backstop" when an upwind state fails to address its contribution to downwind pollution, and the agency's view that it can deploy such authority before a state has addressed the issue is inconsistent with the law.