Natural Resources Defense Council v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Petitioners Natural Resources Defense Council and Communities for a Better Environment petition for review of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Rule 317 as a revision to California’s State Implementation Plan for the Clean Ah Act. EPA approved the rule pursuant to § 172(e) of the CAA after finding that the pollution controls it imposes are “not less stringent than” § 185 of the CAA, which requires that major stationary sources of pollution in *1121 severely polluted areas pay fees for their emissions.

Everyone. agrees that § 172(e) of the CAA (the so-called “anti-backsliding” provision) allows EPA to approve alternate pollution controls that are “not less stringent than the controls” already in effect when a national primary ambient air quality standard is relaxed. But what is EPA’s authority when the standard is tightened ? May EPA approve “not less stringent” standards then, too? Section 172(e) doesn’t say one way or the other.

Petitioners do not argue that Rule 317 is weaker than the controls that existed before. (The controls in Rule 317 are, in fact, more stringent.) Rather,…