Wildearth Guardians v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

WildEarth Guardians (WildEarth), a non-profit environmental organization, petitions for review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of the State of Nevada’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) for regional haze under the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 -7671q (CAA). According to WildEarth, Nevada’s SIP is inadequate, and the EPA’s decision to approve it was arbitrary and capricious. WildEarth thus contends that the EPA should have instead developed its own Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) under the CAA.

We conclude that WildEarth lacks Article III standing to challenge the EPA’s approval of the SIP’s formulation of reasonable progress goals for improving visibility conditions in the Jarbridge Wilderness Area in northeastern Nevada. While WildEarth has standing to challenge the EPA’s decision to approve Nevada’s Sulfur Dioxide (S02) Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) determination for the Reid Gardner Generating Station (Reid Gardner) in southern Nevada, we hold that the EPA’s decision was not arbitrary and capricious. We further conclude that the EPA’s approval of Nevada’s SIP did not violate any requirements imposed by 42 U.S.C. § 7410 (i).…