The Environmental Protection Agency must delay implementing rules on interstate air pollution that were to take effect Sunday, a federal court said Friday, siding with Dallas-based Luminant and other electric power generators seeking to defeat the regulations.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington granted a request by power producers and other challengers to delay the deadline for plants in 27 states including Texas to begin cutting emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides while the court considers the rule's legality."Petitioners have satisfied the standards required for a stay pending court review," Judges Brett Kavanaugh, Thomas Griffith and Janice Rogers Brown said in the brief ruling.More than three dozen lawsuits seek to derail the EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which was issued in July and revised in October. The court hasn't scheduled a date for argument, though Friday's order suggested that the judges will hear the case by April.Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings, the parent of Luminant, was among the utilities challenging the rule. The state of Texas, the National Mining Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers joined in parallel cases, saying the rule puts an undue financial burden on power producers and threatens electric reliability by forcing companies to shut some older plants.Luminant issued a statement late Friday saying the court ruling "allows valued employees across our system to continue working on important generation, mining and other operations. It also allows Luminant's Monticello units 1 and 2 to continue operating."Luminant said it "intends to continue closely evaluating business and operational decisions" given that the stay does not invalidate the rule but only delays a decision on implementing it.Luminant previously said the rule would force it to idle two of three units at its Monticello facility near Mount Pleasant, as well as three lignite coal mines in the area, affecting 1,200 megawatts of generating capacity and about 500 jobs. Luminant says the new rule would cost it $1.5 billion through 2020.The EPA, in a statement, said it is confident that the rule will ultimately be upheld on its merits but said it was "disappointing" that the health benefits will be delayed, even temporarily.Environmentalists said they will continue to defend the rule."The pollution reductions at stake are some of the single most important clean air protections for children, families and communities, across the eastern half of the United States," said Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the court's decision "is a prudent one that now gives the court time to review the regulation and its burdensome effects on Texas.""The EPA relied on flawed science to advance its aggressive agenda," Abbott said.The EPA rule, which applies to Texas and 26 other states, imposes caps on sulfur dioxide, which can lead to acid rain and soot harmful to humans and ecosystems, and nitrogen oxides, a component of ground-level ozone, which is a primary component of smog. The rule applies to emissions that cross state lines.Staff writer Jack Z. Smith contributed to this report, which includes material from Bloomberg News and The Associated Press.
