CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office is co-leading a coalition of 25 states in a petition asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to declare a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule unlawful.
The rule relates to procedures under which states submit plans for the establishment of implementation of standards of performance for existing emission sources as mandated by Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.
Morrisey led a multistate coalition last February raising issues on the then proposed rule.
“It’s either the EPA missed our letter or ignored our concerns,” Morrisey said. “Rather than listen to our advice, EPA has doubled down — issuing a rule that vastly increases the EPA’s authority while imposing compliance obligations even stricter under the Clean Air Act.
“The states should retain their discretion on how to best regulate existing emission sources, like power plants.”
The coalition claims the rule in question gives states less discretion in figuring out how these existing emission sources can comply with less time to comply.
“Petitioners will show that the final rule exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and otherwise is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law,” the coalition wrote in the petition filed January 16.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming joined the West Virginia- and Oklahoma-led petition. In addition, the Arizona Legislature and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also joined the petition.