Appeals court sides with EPA on relaxed anti-pollution plant upgrades News
Appeals court sides with EPA on relaxed anti-pollution plant upgrades

[JURIST] A three judge panel of the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals Friday rejected claims by thirteen states that the Bush administration's decision to let older power plants emit more pollution violates the Clean Air Act [text]. The policy upheld in State of New York v. EPA [PDF opinion] allows plants to modernize without requiring installation of expensive new pollution controls. The administration feared the mandatory upgrades would hinder innovation and changes that increase productivity. The court indicated it was unclear that the administration's changes in the New Source Review [EPA backgrounder] will lead to greater pollution. The EPA New Source Review rules apply to 17,000 facilities, including power plants, refineries, steel mills, and pharmaceutical factories. AP has more.