Permit for Michigan Coal-Fired Plant Was Properly Issued, State Court Affirms

摘要

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had the authority to issue an air permit to the Holland, Mich., Board of Public Works for the expansion of a coal-fired power plant, and a state circuit court properly affirmed that authority, according to the Michigan Court of Appeals (NRDC and Sierra Club v. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Mich. Ct. App., No. 310036, opinion 3/21/13). The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club sued the DEQ in the Michigan Circuit Court, alleging the permit did not comply with federal regulations requiring that modification permits address greenhouse gas emissions (42 ER 1140, 5/20/11). The environmental groups said that, among other flaws, the permit process failed to take into account the "lack of need" for the plant or consider proposed alternatives; that it improperly counted emissions from a separate unit toward Clean Air Act requirements; and that it failed to establish emissions limits that reflect the use of maximum achievable control technology.