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Second ADK U.S. Supreme Court Victory

Upholds Acid Rain Fight

 

On Monday, April 30th, we heard the very good news that the United States Supreme Court turned down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and utility industry’s attempt to seek Supreme Court review of our recent New Source Review victories in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The law firm Carter, Conboy, Case, Blackmore, Maloney and Laird, P.C. represented ADK most skillfully in this case. It was our theory of the case that ultimately was the basis of the Circuit Court's opinions. Click here to read a pdf version of the states' and ADK's legal petition requesting that the Supreme Court deny EPA and the utility industry's appeal.

Under the Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments, existing sources (utilities) of air pollution were not required to immediately install pollution controls. However, Congress provided that whenever a grandfathered power plant undertook a service life extension project or replaced major components that increased its emissions it would have to incorporate pollution controls like flue-gas scrubbers. The intent of Congress, which was affirmed by our above-referenced victories in the Circuit Court of Appeals, was that existing older plants would, in the near future, be retired and replaced by new generating plants with the latest air pollution control technology. If the older plants were rebuilt to extend their service lives, they would have to be retrofitted with flue gas scrubbers. EPA and the electric utilities unsuccessfully argued for several exceptions to the program to indefinitely delay installing such controls on these old dirty plants.

This news is a great step forward in ADK’s efforts to end the current administration's effort to prolong the operation of coal burning power plants without air pollution technologies instead of enforcing the Clean Air Act and requiring the installation of scrubbers and other air pollution control technology and thus begin to end the plague of acid rain and mercury deposition in the Northeast.

This decision builds on ADK's recent win at the U.S. Supreme Court in the Duke Energy case.  To read more about the Duke Energy case click here.