Federal Appeals Court Upholds EPA Air Pollution Ruling

19 states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, & Tennessee will have to curtail smog-causing chemicals from power plants

March 03, 2000 - A federal appeals court has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to require 19 states to control interstate movement of smog-causing chemicals, especially nitrogen oxide, from coal-burning power plants.

The U.S. Court of Appeals' 2-1 decision was a major victory for the EPA and air-pollution control officials in the Northeast, and a setback for utilities in the Ohio Valley and Midwest.

Judges Stephen Williams and Judith Rogers voted to uphold the EPA regulation. Judge David Sentelle dissented, arguing that the EPA ``has exceeded its statutory authority'' and should be reminded ``its mission is not a roving commission to achieve pure air.''

The EPA issued the regulation in October 1998, but a lawsuit and a temporary stay by the courts prevented the regulation from going into effect.

The regulation, aimed largely at curtailing the long-distance travel of pollution from the Ohio Valley into the Northeast, requires states to develop tougher emission controls for dozens of large coal-burning power plants.

``This decision means that we again can move forward to bring cleaner, healthier air to more than 138 million people living in the eastern half of the United States,'' EPA Administrator Carol Browner said in a statement.

Assistant Attorney General Lois J. Schiffer said the court decision was important ``because air pollution knows no boundaries'' and interstate travel of smog-causing chemicals needed to be controlled.

22 states were included in the regulations, but the appeals court said the rule needed further review with regards to three states -- Wisconsin, Missouri and Georgia -- because these states were on the outer limits of the area targeted by the EPA.

The court ruled that the EPA had acted properly as it applied to 19 other states -- Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The 22 states were to have submitted plans for the pollution reductions by last September, but those plans were never developed because of the lawsuit. The new emission controls are to be required by 2003 for some plants and 2005 for others.

source: AP reports, EPA