Oral Arguments Heard in Court of Appeals on NAAQS Case
Oral arguments were heard December 18, 2001 in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia on litigation over the ozone and fine particle air quality standards established by EPA in 1997.
Dozens of industry challengers including the American Trucking Association, National Association of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued that the court should overturn EPA’s eight-hour ozone standard and the new fine particle standards on the grounds that they were set in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner.
The American Lung Association® (American Lung Association®) and six states (MA, NJ, NY, CT, NH, and VT) intervened in support of EPA in its defense of the standards.
Environmentalists argued that EPA’s 24-hour fine particle standard was not sufficient to protect public health.
Litigation on the standards has continued following a Supreme Court ruling in February 2001 that EPA has authority under the Consititution to set air quality standards, and that costs are not to be considered in the standard setting process. The Supreme Court left other issues to be decided by the Court of Appeals.
A ruling on the case is expected in Spring 2002.
Attached are briefs filed in the case by the intervenors (American Lung Association® and six States) and the environmental respondants.
Attachments
- ALA & States’ Ozone Brief
- stateala-ozonebrfoct2001.pdf
ALA & States’ Ozone Brief, Oct. 2001
- Enviro PM Brief
- yuhnkeopeningbrief.doc
Enviro PM Brief
- Enviro PM Reply Brief
- yuhnkereplybrief.doc
Enviro PM Reply Brief
- ALA & States’ PM Brief
- statealapmbriefoct2001.pdf
ALA & States’ PM Brief Oct. 2001
