McCoy-Elkhorn Coal Corp. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

Congress passed the Clean Air Act, which contained a provision authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (defendant) to prohibit coal plants from using fuels other than locally available coal if necessary to prevent local economic disruption. The EPA also had the power to define the locale. If the EPA ordered the use of locally available coal, the affected companies would need to purchase such coal. In Ohio, coal companies had two options to comply with other environmental regulations related to sulfur output: (1) use low-sulfur coal or (2) use scrubbers to desulfurize coal. The EPA sought to invoke the local-coal-burning section of the Clean Air Act in Ohio. Ohio had only high-sulfur coal, so to comply, companies would be required to use scrubbers. Using scrubbers was much more expensive than using low-sulfur coal. The McCoy-Elkhorn Coal Corporation (McCoy-Elkhorn) (plaintiff) was a Kentucky producer of low-sulfur coal. In response to the EPA’s proposed plan to require Ohio coal producers to purchase only locally available (i.e., high-sulfur) coal, McCoy-Elkhorn sued. Various parties joined the suit. McCoy-Elkhorn claimed that the proposed prohibition on Ohio companies purchasing non-Ohio coal would violate the Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The district court disagreed, and McCoy-Elkhorn appealed.