Twenty-four U.S. states, the United Mine Workers of America and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) asked a Washington federal court to review new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air-pollution regulations.
The new National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, or NESHAP, require operators of coal- and oil-fired power generators to meet standards “reflecting the application of maximum achievable control technology,” according to the published regulation.
More than a dozen challenges to the rule have been filed with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington since April 13, including a joint filing by 22 states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
This is the first time the American Public Power Association, a Washington-based group of 2,000 community-owned utilities, has filed a petition to block an EPA regulation, said Nick Braden, the group’s vice president for communications.
The group, saying its community-owned utilities can’t meet the deadline, seeks to require the EPA to re-propose the rule. The rule gives power-producers three years to comply, with a fourth or fifth year possible with state or federal approval.
“It’s not the rule itself, but the timeline of compliance,” Braden said in an interview.
