Description: Proceeding seeking stay of Clean Power Plan prior to publication of final rule.
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In re West Virginia
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/09/2015 Order Download Order issued denying emergency petitions for extraordinary writ. D.C. Circuit Denied Stay of Clean Power Plan. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied emergency petitions for extraordinary writ in which 15 states and Peabody Energy Corporation sought to prevent the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from moving forward with its Clean Power Plan. In early August, EPA released the prepublication version of the final Clean Power Plan rule, which regulates carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. EPA has submitted the final rule for publication in the Federal Register and believes that it will be published by the end of October. In denying the petitions, the D.C. Circuit said that the petitioners had not satisfied the “stringent standards” for staying agency action. 08/31/2015 Opposition Download Opposition to emergency petitions for extraordinary writ filed by environmental groups. 08/31/2015 Opposition Download Response in opposition to emergency petitions filed by EPA. 08/24/2015 Order Download Order issued consolidating Peabody Energy Corp. emergency renewed petition for extraordinary writ. 08/19/2015 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene in support of petitioners filed by South Carolina. 08/19/2015 Order Download Order issued denying motion to consolidate with In re Murray Energy Corp. (14-1112) and West Virginia v. EPA (14-1146). 08/13/2015 Petition Download Emergency petition for extraordinary writ filed. States, Coal Company Sought to Stay Clean Power Plan. After EPA released the final Clean Power Plan rule regulating carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, 15 states filed an emergency petition for extraordinary writ in the D.C. Circuit. South Carolina intervened on behalf of the states, while a number of environmental organizations have intervened in support of EPA. The 16 states, as well as New Jersey and the National Mining Association, also submitted requests to EPA for an administrative stay of the rule. In the D.C. Circuit, the states argued that a stay is warranted even before formal publication of the rule because EPA had established deadlines for submission of state plans starting in September 2016 that will apply regardless of when the rule is published, and that the states are therefore compelled to continue working to meet those hard deadlines. They argued that the Clean Power Plan is illegal because the Clean Air Act prohibits EPA from regulating source categories under Section 111 where it has regulated them under Section 112 and because the Clean Power Plan exceeds EPA’s regulatory authority. The D.C. Circuit has declined to consolidate the petitions challenging the final rule with In re Murray Energy Corp., the challenge to the proposed Clean Power Plan dismissed by the D.C. Circuit in June 2015 because there was no final agency action. The coal company Peabody Energy Corporation filed an emergency renewed petition for extraordinary writ in In re Murray Energy Corp., which the D.C. Circuit instead opened as a new case and consolidated with the states’ proceeding. In September, EPA submitted its opposition to the petitions for extraordinary writ. The agency indicated that it expects to publish the final rule in the Federal Register by the end of October. EPA argued that straying from the Clean Air Act’s timeframe for judicial review is not warranted, that petitioners will not suffer irreparable harm, and that the statutory issues raised by the petitioners are disputable. -
In re Peabody Energy Corp.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/13/2015 Petition Download Emergency renewed petition for extraordinary writ filed.