CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is fighting back against some of the new regulations put out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Thursday the state has filed a major brief in the United States Supreme Court opposing the EPA’s new rule on cross-state air pollution.
“Our Office is very concerned about the Environmental Protection Agency’s cross-state air pollution rule targeting coal- and natural gas-fired power plants,” Morrisey said in a news release. “The agency’s rule imposes one-size-fits-all federal plans on power plants and utilities, costing them $2.4 billion per year to comply.”
West Virginia is joined in the brief by eight other states including Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
“This move by the EPA is just one more effort to slam the door on energy-producing states,” said Morrisey in the release. “It is a blatant attempt to promote a reckless agenda that picks winners and losers and puts our nation’s goal for energy independence in a tenuous position.”
The brief argues that the EPA exceeded its authority under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) when the agency declared a rule in 2011 announcing new air pollution cuts and imposing federal implementation plans on states. In addition, the brief argues the CAA requires the EPA to give states an opportunity to decide how to meet new air pollution standards.
The brief supports a lawsuit that was filed in 2011 against the EPA by fifteen other states, as well as industry groups and labor organizations. Back in August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the regulation, saying that it “exceeds the agency’s statutory authority.”
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the rule and is expected to hear oral arguments from all parties in December. A ruling is expected to be made next June.
“This issue is something that I thought our office should have been involved in fighting aggressively when the regulations were announced, and I believe this step will help protect West Virginia’s interests,” stated Morrisey.