A federal appellate court has rejected a 2004 Environmental Protection Agency ozone rule and directed it to rewrite the regulation. The decision is a setback for EPA and a victory for the California air pollution control agency that challenged the rule and for environmental groups that feel EPA’s action weakened air pollution standards.
In a Dec. 22 decision, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that EPA’s regulation violated the Clean Air Act, stating that EPA’s interpretation of the law “in a manner to maximize its own discretion is unreasonable because the clear intent of Congress...was to the contrary.” The case is South Coast Air Quality Management District v. EPA.