A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a clean air regulation that it threw out in July, marking a significant victory for environmental advocates.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) in July, stating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its authority in requiring states to reduce smog-forming emissions.
However, on Tuesday the court put the rule back into effect, pending changes that the EPA must adopt. The three judge panel determined that it could not allow the country to go without a CAIR, while the EPA fixes the rule, even if the current rule is out of line.
"Today’s court decision is a welcome gift for the millions of Americans that face serious health threats from power plant pollution," Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, said. "Power plants across the East will reduce millions of tons of smog and soot pollution today while America’s new leadership fixes the mistakes made by the Bush administration."
The EPA predicted that the CAIR would save up to $100 billion in health benefits, eliminate millions of
lost work and school days and prevent tens of thousands of nonfatal
heart attacks.
EPA also said it would prevent about 17,000 premature deaths a year by reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
The court did not give the EPA a deadline for redrafting the rule.
Earlier this week, the same court rejected a federal rule that allowed pollution limits at refineries and other indstrial sites to exceed federal limits during startup, shutdown and malfunction.
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