Washington Environmental Counc v. Theodore Sturdevant

The parties cross appeal the district court’s decision granting in part and denying in part their dispositive motions regarding environmental claims brought by the Washington Environmental Council (WEC) and the Sierra Club, Washington State Chapter, (collectively, Plaintiffs) under the citizen-suit provision of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 -7671q. Plaintiffs seek to compel the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) and other regional agencies (collectively, the Agencies) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s five oil refineries under the CAA. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), whose members include those refineries, intervened on behalf of the Agencies. Specifically, Plaintiffs claim that the Agencies failed to define emission limits — called “reasonably available control technology” (RACT) — for greenhouse gases, and apply those limits to the oil refineries, in violation of two provisions of Washington’s CAA State Implementation Plan (SIP): the “RACT Standard” and “Narrative Standard.” The district court awarded Plaintiffs summary judgment on their RACT claim, but dismissed their Narrative claim. The court…