Clean Air Interstate Rule

A federal appeals court has upheld a challenge to a high-profile Bush administration rule on interstate air pollution that was brought by North Carolina and electric utilities including Duke Energy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority by instituting the clean-air rule. Citing “more than several fatal flaws,” the court scrapped the entire regulation. “This is without a doubt the worst news of the year when it comes to air pollution,” said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. The Clean Air Interstate Rule required 28 mostly Eastern states to reduce emissions that form fine particles and ozone, which can travel hundreds of miles on the wind. The EPA had predicted the rule would prevent about 17,000 premature deaths a year.
North Carolina objected to the rule's provision allowing polluters to trade for emission “allowances” earned by low-pollution sources. That would let some upwind facilities avoid updating their pollution controls, the state argued. “We're pleased that the court has agreed that we need tougher rules to clean up and protect the air we breathe,” N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. The EPA denied a petition filed by the state in 2004 to force lower pollution limits on 13 upwind states, which Cooper argued were hurting North Carolina's efforts to clean up utility emissions. The state has appealed the EPA denial. Duke Energy spokeswoman Tom Williams said the Charlotte-based utility had objected to the rule because of the low number of emission allowances it gave Duke. The EPA said it was reviewing the 60-page opinion. The Bush administration can appeal the decision. (Bruce Henderson, THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/12/08).