D.C. Circuit Upholds Key EPA Air Rule Setting Mercury Standards for Power Plants

摘要

A federal appeals court handed the Environmental Protection Agency a significant victory April 15 by upholding stringent mercury and air toxics standards for power plants, which are among the costliest regulations the agency has promulgated (White Stallion Energy Ctr. LLC v. EPA, 2014 BL 103957, D.C. Cir., No. 12-1100,4/15/14). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected argument after argument that industry petitioners made, saying the EPA's decisions were reasonable and the agency deserves deference. A three-judge panel of Judges Merrick Garland, Judith Rogers and Brett Kavanaugh upheld the standards in an April 15 opinion, although Kavanaugh wrote a dissenting opinion saying the EPA should have considered the cost burden for industry when the agency began the rulemaking process.