Court Puts Cross-State Rule on Hold

 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, scheduled to take effect January 1, 2012, has been put on hold by a federal appeals court.

The cross-state rule, issued in July 2011, would set new, tighter restrictions on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in 28 states, including Louisiana.

On December 30, 2011, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered a stay of the rule, agreeing with dozens of states and power producers who had asked the court to put it on hold.

Critics of the cross-state rule, including a number of public power utilities, have warned that it would cause significant economic harm and could result in reliability problems in some areas.

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will require more than two dozen states to “significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and/or fine particle pollution in other states,” the EPA said last summer when it issued the rule.

The cross-state rule is intended to replace EPA’s Clean Air Interstate Rule, which was issued in 2005 but was struck down by a federal court in 2008. The CAIR rule remained in place temporarily while EPA crafted a new rule to curb sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that cross state boundaries.

The cross-state rule will remain on hold while a three-judge panel reviews the rules. During the stay the Clean Air Interstate Rule will remain in effect. The court said it expects to hear oral arguments in the case in April.

Informed sources say it is expected that the Clean Air Interstate Rule will stay in place for all of 2012, even if the cross-state rule ends up being upheld by the court.

U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, welcomed the ruling by the D.C. Circuit. “This decision is a major win for consumers because [the cross-state rule] is estimated to increase electricity rates, threaten electric reliability, and unfairly penalize electricity generated from coal,” Whitfield said. “This rule, combined with other recently finalized and pending EPA regulations, has been estimated to put at risk 1.6 million jobs and cost consumers nearly $21 billion per year.”