New York v. E.P.A.

921 F.3d 257
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedApril 23, 2019
DocketNo. 17-1273
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 921 F.3d 257 (New York v. E.P.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New York v. E.P.A., 921 F.3d 257 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

Opinion

Randolph, Senior Circuit Judge:

*259In the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Congress established the "Northeast Ozone Transport Region." The Region consists of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, the District of Columbia, and a portion of Virginia. 42 U.S.C. § 7511c(a).

Years later several States in the Region requested the Environmental Protection Agency to expand the Region to include the upwind States of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and the remaining portions of Virginia.1 EPA's refusal is the subject of this lawsuit.

The issue in this case is whether EPA's decision was arbitrary and capricious or otherwise contrary to law.

To appreciate whether EPA should have placed these States in the Northeast Ozone Transport Region, one must understand the regulation of ozone (O3). Ozone "is one of the primary constituents of smog. Ozone's three-atom arrangement is highly unstable: the third oxygen atom, in a process called oxidation, has an aggressive tendency to react with whatever substance is available. ... Exactly how ozone is created and transported in the lower atmosphere,[2 ] and how it decays, is a matter of extreme complexity. Ozone is not a direct pollutant. Vehicles do not emit it, and it does not billow out of smokestacks. Instead, it is formed mostly from the mixture of two chemical precursors emitted by automobiles and industry: nitrogen oxides (NOx) and a large group of hydrocarbon pollutants called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).... These precursors cook in the sun .... The creation of ozone can thus be seen as a seasonal phenomenon, with concentrations peaking in the summer, and as a diurnal occurrence, with concentrations peaking during the afternoon and falling during the night. The precursor- and ozone-laden air slowly *260moves downwind, and as the air mass moves, ozone levels often continue to increase, in part because the ozone has more time to develop, in part because the air mass picks up more precursors along the way. Ultimately, this process can bring high ozone levels to areas hundreds of miles downwind of the pollution sources." Virginia v. EPA , 108 F.3d 1397, 1399-1400 (D.C. Cir.), modified on other grounds , 116 F.3d 499 (D.C. Cir. 1997).

For these reasons downwind States may be hampered in their efforts to control their ozone pollution levels. Whatever control measures these States impose on sources within their borders, they cannot stop the arrival of pollutants from upwind States. Id. at 1400.

States who are or who become members of the Northeast Ozone Transport Region are subject to mandatory ozone controls. 42 U.S.C. § 7511c(b). The controls include enhanced vehicle-inspection and maintenance programs in densely populated areas, reasonably available control technology for emissions sources, vehicle-refueling controls for vapor recovery, and heightened permitting and control requirements applicable to major stationary sources. See id. With few exceptions, these requirements apply throughout the region; EPA may lack discretion to tailor the requirements to specific sources. See id. § 7511c(b)(1).

EPA may expand the Region pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7506a(a). This section provides that on receipt of a State's petition, EPA "may ... add any State or portion of a State ... whenever the Administrator has reason to believe that the interstate transport of air pollutants from such State significantly contributes to a violation of the [air-quality] standard in the transport region." 42 U.S.C. § 7506a(a)(1). In their EPA petition, the States here contended that the upwind States "significantly contribute[d]" to ozone pollution in the Transport Region. EPA exercised what it believed to be its discretion to deny the State's petition.3 In response to the States' contention, EPA wrote that it would continue to rely on two other Clean Air Act sections: the "good-neighbor" provision and "section 126 petitions." EPA Denial, 82 Fed. Reg. at 51,242.

The good-neighbor provision, 42 U.S.C. § 7410(a)(2)(D)(i)(I), requires that each State's implementation plan prohibit sources within the State from emitting pollutants that "contribute significantly to nonattainment in, or interfere with maintenance by, any other State with respect to" the relevant air-quality standards. If a State plan fails to satisfy the good-neighbor provision, EPA must impose a federal plan that does so. See id. § 7410(c)(1), (k).

The other section - section 126 - provides that a State or political subdivision may submit a petition to EPA identifying "any major source or group of stationary sources [that] emits or would emit any air pollutant in violation of" the good-neighbor provision. Id. § 7426(b). If EPA finds such a violation, the source or sources must *261come into compliance or cease operations. Id. § 7426(c).

In refusing to expand the Region in this case,

EPA noted its historical use of these authorities to address the interstate transport of ozone pollution and the advantages of those rulemakings for addressing current ozone nonattainment problems for the 2008 ozone [air-quality standards]. The EPA explained that it preferred to use these authorities to address the remaining interstate transport problems with respect to the 2008 ozone [air-quality standards] because it believes these authorities allow the agency to develop a tailored remedy that is most effective for addressing any remaining air quality problems.

EPA Denial, 82 Fed. Reg. at 51,242.

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921 F.3d 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-york-v-epa-cadc-2019.