Yesterday, May 24, 2016, petitioners and petitioner-intervenors in State of North Dakota v. EPA, the consolidated cases seeking D.C. Circuit review of EPA’s CO2 emission standards for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants (NSPS), filed a motion requesting that the court suspend its briefing schedule. Under the schedule issued by the court in March 2016, the deadline for opening briefs is currently set for July 15, 2016.
The suspension request relates to EPA’s recent denial of five petitions for reconsideration of the NSPS. In the motion, the petitioners state that three of the denied reconsideration petitions were filed by parties in North Dakota. The petitioners seek a suspension of the court’s briefing schedule in order to allow parties to file petitions for review of EPA’s recent denial and to allow consolidation of those new petitions with the existing North Dakota petitions. The motion notes that EPA and the respondent-intervenors oppose the motion.