In the Matter of Crown/Vista Energy Project

The Clean Air Act was a federal law that set emissions standards for certain facilities. The act required states to implement plans for enforcing emissions standards. Under 1990 amendments to the act, acceptable levels of one pollutant decreased from 50 tons per year to 25 tons per year. The amended act required states to update the implementation plans by November 15, 1992. Recognizing that many states would fail to meet this deadline and consistent with a savings clause in the 1990 amendments, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance providing that if a state failed to meet the November 15, 1992, deadline, the state could review plans that were submitted before this date under the pre-1990 regulations. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) (defendant) issued draft rules to update the state’s plan, which went into effect in 1993. Consistent with the EPA’s guidance, the rules grandfathered in applications submitted before November 1992. On February 28, 1992, the Crown/Vista Energy Project submitted an application to construct a new power facility. Based on its regulations, on October 21, 1992, the NJDEP determined that the application was complete and eventually granted the permit. As part of the permitting process, the NJDEP concluded that the emissions level would be about 49 tons per year, consistent with the pre-1990 regulations. A group of citizens (plaintiffs) challenged the grant of the application. Among other arguments, the citizens claimed that the NJDEP was incorrect in grandfathering in the application and reviewing it under the pre-1990 regulation level of 50 tons per year instead of the new 25-tons-per-year level.