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Administrative Law Keyed to Asimow
Sierra Club v. Costle
Citation:
657 F.2d 298 (1981)Facts
In June 1979, EPA promulgated revised New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for coal-fired electric power plants. The standards included a variable percentage reduction requirement for sulfur dioxide emissions, ranging from 70% (for low-sulfur coal) to 90% (for high-sulfur coal), with an absolute ceiling of 1.2 lbs./MBtu. The standards also reduced the allowable emissions of particulate matter from 0.10 to 0.03 lbs./MBtu. EPA developed these standards after extensive modeling and analysis, considering factors such as cost, energy requirements, and environmental impacts. The agency determined that the variable standard would achieve equivalent or better emission reductions than a uniform 90% standard while providing flexibility for utilities, encouraging the development of dry scrubbing technology, and avoiding disruption to coal markets. Sierra Club challenged the variable standard, arguing that the Clean Air Act required a uniform 90% reduction. Electric utilities challenged the 90% requirement for high-sulfur coal and the particulate matter standard as not achievable. The Environmental Defense Fund challenged the 1.2 lbs./MBtu ceiling on procedural grounds, alleging improper ex parte communications during the rulemaking process.
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