CAMR Ruling Appealed by DOJ at the Last Minute

In what some may call a surprise move the Department of Justice on behalf of the Bush administration and the EPA has filed a last minute appeal of the Circuit Court of Appeals Feb 8 ruling that struck down the CAMR (Clean Air Mercury Rule) and its mercury cap-and-trade program. They have asked the full Court of Appeals to reconsider the ruling that went in favor of New Jersey, 16 other states, several environmental groups, tribes, and some health associations.

Because the ruling by the three judge panel was unanimous and so decisive, using very strong language in rejecting EPA's case for delisting, it seemed unlikely an appeal would follow. But EPA is not going down lightly on this one and is seeking a broader opinion of the case to see if it will result in a more favorable decision.

An excerpt from an AP article is below;

The Justice Department, in seeking a review of the decision, argued in a filing late Monday that the three-judge panel misinterpreted the federal clean air law and required "inappropriate and unnecessary emissions standards for power plants."

It maintained the ruling would needlessly delay mercury emission reductions by forcing the EPA to abandon its 2005 regulation that calls for a 70 percent cut in mercury releases over the next decade.
[...]
Separately, a group of electric utilities also filed a petition with the full appeals court, asking for a review. The Utility Air Regulatory Group, argued that the EPA has the discretion to regulate emissions in a way it considers necessary and appropriate.

The group includes electric generating companies and trade associations representing power companies and coal interests.

And so on it goes.