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Appeals Court Rejects EPA Air Pollution Rule

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The Washington Post

Published: July 12, 2008

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Friday threw out a major component of the Bush administration's effort to reduce unhealthy levels of soot and smog in Eastern and Midwestern states, a decision that environmental groups worry will delay action on air pollution well into the next administration.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the Environmental Protection Agency had overstepped its authority in instituting a rule that would have established a cap-and-trade system for soot and smog, to allow utilities to sell and buy pollution credits as long as total industry emissions remained below a preset cap.

The Clean Air Interstate Rule rejected by the appeals court does not apply to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which is produced by burning fossil fuels.

The interstate rule represented the Bush administration's most aggressive action to clean the air during the next two decades. The EPA estimated that the rule would help prevent 17,000 premature deaths and reduce levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by as much as 70 percent by 2025. An unusual alliance of power companies and environmental groups supported the measure.

The three-judge panel found that the EPA had committed "more than several fatal flaws" in creating the measure, which was challenged by several power companies and North Carolina for a variety of contrasting reasons.

"No amount of tinkering with the rule or revising of the explanations will transform CAIR, as written, into an acceptable rule," read the unanimous 60-page opinion issued by the D.C. circuit's chief judge, David B. Sentelle, and judges Judith W. Rogers and Janice Rogers Brown.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said in a conference call with reporters that "we are extremely disappointed in the court's decision because it's overturning one of the most protective air pollution rules in our nation's history. ... We'll wait and see what our next steps are."

Environmental groups said the decision will delay efforts to reduce air pollution.

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