Court Rejects EPA Bid To Stall GHG Permit Suit Pending Other Litigation

摘要

A federal appeals court has rejected EPA's bid to put on hold lawsuits over the agency's greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting program pending the outcome of existing litigation over other aspects of EPA's climate program, which could revive concerns that different courts may issue conflicting rulings on the legality of the various GHG rules. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's July 6 denial of EPA's motion to hold the GHG permitting rule suit in abeyance comes as briefing advances in a 10th Circuit case also challenging the permit rule. In that case, State of Wyoming v. EPA, petitioners argue that EPA's so-called "SIP Call," which identified 13 states whose state implementation plans (SIPs) were inadequate to enforce the agency's new GHG permitting rules, was unlawful and unconstitutional. They also challenge EPA's decision to directly take over GHG permitting in Wyoming.