Supreme Court refuses to block EPA mercury and methane rules
SCOTUS NEWS
On Friday, the justices denied a request to intervene on an unsigned order. (Aashish Kiphayet via Shutterstock)
The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a request from Republican-led states and industry groups to block a rule from the Environmental Protection Agency that imposes more stringent standards on emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants. The Supreme Court’s Friday orders mean that both rules will remain in effect while challenges to them are brought before a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court had put another EPA regulation, intended to reduce the air pollution that affects the air quality in states “downwind”, on hold for three months while lower courts continued to challenge it. The EPA issued the first rule as part of the “Hazardous Air Pollutants” program established by the Clean Air Act, which targets pollutants – such as mercury, arsenic, and nickel – that can be toxic for humans. The D.C. Circuit rejected this request. The challengers then came to the Supreme Court in August, filing seven separate applications to stay the rule while the D.C. Circuit’s review continued.
The challengers complained that the new rule will impose billions of dollars in costs on power plants without providing any real public health benefits. The challengers argued that the rule was part of a broader scheme to “force a nation-wide transition away from coal due to putative climate change” (as North Dakota and the other states argued). Oklahoma and industry groups also went to D.C. first. Circuit to challenge the rule, and to have the court suspend it while the litigation continues. The D.C. The justices rejected both requests for a stay of the rules in brief, unsigned orders issued on Friday. The justices didn’t give any explanations for their decisions and there were no recorded dissents. These requests were filed in late July, and the court has been fully briefed on them for more than a month.
