Sidley was part of a team that secured a significant victory on behalf of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) when the Supreme Court blocked the latest rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implementing the Good Neighbor Provision of the Clean Air Act. The rule requires power plants and other industrial sources in “upwind” states to impose costly emission control technologies in order to prevent emissions originating in those states from interfering with “downwind” states’ ability to meet the EPA’s air-quality standards for ozone. The upwind states and regulated industries petitioned for review in the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the rule exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority and violates requirements of reasoned decision-making.
In Ohio v. EPA, the Supreme Court held that the petitioners were likely to prevail on the merits of their challenge and thus that the rule should be stayed while the litigation proceeds. In particular, the Court held that the petitioners were likely to prevail on their challenge that the rule is arbitrary and capricious because the EPA failed to adequately explain its basis for concluding that the federal plan should remain in effect even if one or more of the 23 upwind states that were originally included in the plan were removed. The decision is a major win for our clients and the other state and industry petitioners.
Sidley lawyers Sam Boxerman, Eric McArthur, Kathleen Mueller, and Jeremy Rozansky (all Washington, D.C.) represented INGAA and API.
