July 5, 2016 marks the last day for petitions for judicial review of EPA’s decision to deny reconsideration of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for CO2 emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed power plants. Last month, the D.C. Circuit granted a motion to suspend the briefing schedule in North Dakota v. EPA, which is a petition for review of the NSPS itself, in order to allow time to file for review of the related issue of EPA’s denial of reconsideration.
Although judicial review of EPA’s denial of petitions for reconsideration of the NSPS is procedurally distinct from review of the actual NSPS final rule, many of the substantive arguments regarding EPA’s denial of reconsideration and the final rule overlap. In fact, in their motion to suspend the briefing schedule in North Dakota v. EPA, the petitioners and petitioner-intervenors indicated that they intend to file a motion to consolidate petitions for review of EPA’s denial of reconsideration with the consolidated cases already pending in North Dakota v. EPA. The D.C. Circuit has ordered that motions to consolidate be filed by July 12, 2016.
Last week, Murray Energy Corporation filed a petition for review of EPA’s denial of reconsideration. This post will be updated after all such petitions have been filed.
