EPA issued a final rule this week intended to further clarify its policy on the scope of New Source Review (“NSR”), the program that requires a pre-construction permit for new plants or “major modifications” of existing plants. The EPA policy, known as “aggregation,” refers to the grouping of two projects into one for purposes of determining whether the combined effect of the two activities will result in a significant emissions increase that triggers the permitting requirements of NSR.
Court Rulings
Vacatur Reversed, CAIR Begins
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On December 23, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals finally answered the request for reconsideration of its decision to vacate the Clean Air Interstate Rule known as “CAIR.” As reported previously, CAIR is a cap-and-trade program designed by EPA to ensure that the emissions from power plants in one state do not interfere with efforts to attain the national air quality standards in another state. In the Court’s July decision, it found “more than several fatal flaws in the rule” and vacated it in its entirety, rendering the rule of no force or effect. In December, however, the Court reversed its decision to vacate the rule in order to “temporarily preserve the environmental values covered by CAIR” until EPA has time to revise the program.