Dow Chemical USA v. Environmental Protection Agency

491 F. Supp. 428, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 977, 10 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20850, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17315
District Court, M.D. Louisiana·Decided June 3, 1980·No. Civ. A. No. 80-197-A·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN V. PARKER, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon: (1) a motion to intervene filed on behalf E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. (“Du Pont”); (2) a motion for preliminary injunction filed on behalf of plaintiffs, Dow Chemical Company, et al. (“Dow”); and (3) a motion to dismiss filed by defendant, the Environmental Protection Agency. The motion for preliminary injunction was heard by the Court on April 29, 1980, and taken under advisement. On May 29, 1980, the Court temporarily restrained the Environmental Protection Agency from publishing the proposed “Standards of Performance” which are the subject of this dispute.

I.

MOTION TO INTERVENE

Dow and the other plaintiffs are the producers of organic cleaning solvents, also known as degreasers which contain substances known as methylene chloride, methyl chloroform, trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene that are the subject of proposed “Standards of Performance” which the Environmental Protection Agency intends to publish in the Federal Register as a proposed administrative regulation. Plaintiffs are objecting to the publication and Du Pont seeks to intervene in these proceedings alleging that its commercial solvent used in degreasers, known as trichlorotrifluoroethane, more pronounceably known as “F-113,” is in all respects subject to the same regulatory scheme and administrative actions involving the substances used by plaintiffs. Thus, Du Pont claims that it is also entitled to injunctive relief against the Environmental Protection Agency and it [430] has also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction.

Plaintiffs do not oppose the intervention but the Environmental Protection Agency does, pointing out that the hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction has already been concluded. Du Pont has filed a unilateral “Stipulation” in the record declaring that if it is permitted to intervene, then:

“. . . Du Pont stipulates and agrees to the consideration of its Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, attached to Du Pont’s Application to Intervene, without further hearing or oral argument upon said Motion, and on the basis of the argument presented and heard on April 29, 1980 upon the plaintiffs’ similar Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, and upon the EPA’s Motion to Dismiss.” (See Stipulation of Du Pont)

Du Pont claims that it may intervene of right under Rule 24(a)(2), Fed.R. Civ.P. The Court entertains considerable doubt regarding intervention of right in this case since Du Pont’s claims relate to an entirely different chemical substance than those utilized by plaintiffs, and thus Du Pont does not claim “an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action,” as required by Rule 24(a)(2). In view of Du Pont’s “Stipulation,” however, the intervention will not delay the proceedings and neither plaintiffs nor defendant will be prejudiced thereby. Du Pont does have a claim against the defendant similar to those asserted by plaintiffs, and it will be permitted to intervene under Rule 24(b)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P.

II.

MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

By Section 111 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7411, the Environmental Protection Agency is directed by the Congress to publish and periodically revise, a list of categories of stationary sources that cause or contribute significantly to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. After receiving public comment upon the sources thus listed, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to publish proposed regulations establishing federal standards of performance for those categories of sources listed. Section 111(b)(1)(B), 42 U.S.C. § 7411(bXD(B).

As noted above, plaintiffs and intervenor are producers of substances utilized in organic cleaning solvents or degreasers that are the subject of proposed “Standards of Performance” which are about to be published by the administrative agency. That regulation would limit emissions of the substances from organic solvent degreasers which are in wide use in industry throughout the nation.

Plaintiffs and intervenor claim that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot publish a new regulation (the “Standards of Performance”) relating to these substances because they were not included in the list of categories of stationary sources of pollution previously established by the Environmental Protection Agency1 under Section 111(b)(1)(A), 42 U.S.C. § 7411(b)(1)(A). Movers also claim that under Section 111 of the Act, the Agency is first required to publish a list of sources, receive public comment thereon, and prepare a final list of categories of sources and then, and only then, can it publish proposed regulations (“Standards of Performance”). These proposed regulations also require opportunity for comment. Movers argue that the Agency here has omitted the first step in the regulatory process in failing to include these substances on the original list of categories of sources of pollution, and they further argue that they will suffer irreparable injury by the mere publication of the proposed regulation since its effective date will ultimately relate back to the date of publication. Plaintiffs claim that they may chal[431] lenge this administrative action and obtain injunctive relief because the Agency is not following the statutory administrative process.

I find that this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this matter; consequently, the merits of the various claims are not reached.

In the 1977 Amendments to the Clean Air Act, the Congress made extensive revisions in the judicial review of administrative actions of the Environmental Protection Agency, many of which had been reviewable in federal district courts under 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a). Section 307(b)(1), 42 U.S.C. § 7607(bXl), now contains an enumeration of specific administrative actions which may be reviewed only in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia or the Court of Appeals “for the appropriate circuit,” depending upon whether the action is of national or regional application. That section provides, in part:

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Dow Chemical USA v. Environmental Protection Agency, 491 F. Supp. 428, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 977, 10 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20850, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17315 (M.D. La. 1980).

491 F. Supp. 428 (Dow Chemical USA v. Environmental Protection Agency) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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