NATIONAL PAINT & COATINGS ASSN., INC. v. South Coast Air Quality Management Dist.

A trade group, the National Paint & Coatings Association, Inc., has brought this action against the South Coast Air Quality Management District, challenging the district's 2002 amendments to its rule limiting the amount of volatile organic compounds allowed in various kinds of paint and coatings in Southern California. [1]

The challenged rule basically says: Here's a list of the maximum levels of volatile organic compounds that paint manufacturers may have in different kinds of paint and coatings, with the effective levels kicking in at various times. [2] The rule also has an averaging provision, similar to federal car mileage standards, which allows manufacturers to average the "actual cumulative emissions" of their paints and coatings so that the total emission can be under a hypothetical compliance limit, even if some of their paints and coatings are not.

The paint association's challenge is also conceptually simple enough: It asserts that the district has exceeded the authority given it by the statutes governing its authority to promulgate air pollution regulations, because the rule specifies limits that are not actually "available" and "achievable." (See…