Activists Challenge Epa Memo Prohibiting Co2 Limits In Air Permits

摘要

Environmentalists in a recent petition are urging EPA to revoke and reconsider a contentious memo issued by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson that orders regional agency offices not to consider first-time carbon dioxide (CO2) limits in air permits, arguing that the position laid out in the memo is an illegal interpretation of the Clean Air Act and was issued without the opportunity for public input. A coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Task Force and the Southern Environmental Law Center petitioned EPA Dec. 31 to revoke the Johnson memo, which was released Dec. 18 and made final in a Dec. 31 Federal Register notice. The petition is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details. The groups argue that the Johnson memo violates a number of requirements in the Clean Air Act and is also contrary to administrative law and a recent Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) ruling which mandated that the agency must take public comment on the issue of whether to require CO2 limits in permits. Environmentalists also plan to sue EPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia if the agency does not withdraw the memo, one activist says.