On December 30, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted several parties’ motions to stay in the federal case challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“Transport Rule”). The court’s order stops implementation of the Transport Rule two days before it was set to take effect on January 1, 2012. The Transport Rule has been challenged by several states and private companies in over three dozen cases, which have been consolidated under the first-filed case, EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, No. 11-1302 (D.C. Cir. filed Aug. 23, 2011).
The court’s ruling is not a decision on the merits of the case. Instead, in a two-page opinion, the court held that the “petitioners have satisfied the standards required for a stay pending court review.” Thus, the Transport Rule is stayed pending the court’s resolution of the various petitions to review the EPA rule. The court will likely decide on the merits of the challenges to the Transport Rule in the spring of 2012.
