Robert W. Hall v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

ORDER

The Petition for Panel Rehearing or Clarification is DENIED.

The opinion filed August 29, 2001, is hereby AMENDED as follows:

OPINION

In this pro se petition for review, Robert Hall raises procedural and substantive challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) approval of a revision to the air quality plan adopted by Clark County, Nevada, which modifies existing rules for new stationary sources seeking permits to emit pollutants in Clark County. The most significant issue that Hall raises is whether the EPA adequately assessed Clark County’s prospects, under its revised air quality plan, of meeting the Clean Air Act’s (“CAA” or “Act”) requirements concerning attainment of federally-established air quality standards. The statutory basis for this claim is the Act’s requirement that the EPA determine whether air quality plan revisions will “interfere” with attainment requirements. See CAA § 110(l), 42 U.S.C. § 7410 (l).

Although we reject Hall’s procedural challenges, we conclude that the EPA’s interpretation of its review responsibility under § 110(l) is not consistent with the Act. The EPA argues that, so long as a revision to an air quality plan does not…