Virginia v. EPA
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
108 F.3d 1397 (1997)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA) required each State to formulate, subject to approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (defendant), a state implementation plan (SIP) designed to achieve national ambient air quality standards, including for the reduction of ozone pollution. Congress specifically was concerned with ozone emissions in 12 states in the northeastern region of the United States and the District of Columbia, referred to as the “Northeast Ozone Transport Region” (the Region). Each State in the Region had an SIP that met national standards approved by the EPA pursuant to § 110 of the CAA. Thereafter, the EPA promulgated a rule declaring each of the region states’ SIPs “substantially inadequate” and required the states to decrease ozone pollution by implementing California’s “Low Emission Vehicle” (LEV) standards which were considerably more restrictive than the federal standards. The Commonwealth of Virginia and three automobile manufacturing associations filed petitions in the court of appeals challenging EPA’s rule. Several states in the region intervened in the action to defend EPA’s mandate.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Randolph, J.)
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