Arizona, 15 other states plan to sue feds over power plant rules
Aug 5, 2015, 2:14 PM
PHOENIX — Arizona, along with 15 other states, plan to sue the Obama administration over its greenhouse gas limits for power plants. The group filed a request Wednesday to put the limits on hold during a forthcoming legal challenge.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office signed the petition along with his counterparts from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The Environmental Protection Agency was asked to “immediately stay the Section 111(d) Rule, Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units, EPA-HQ-OAR-20 13-0602, pending completion of the impending litigation regarding the Rule’s legality. Absent an immediate stay, the Section 111(d) Rule will coerce the States to expend enormous public resources and to put aside sovereign priorities to prepare State Plans of unprecedented scope and complexity.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was leading the charge. His group wanted the EPA to respond by Friday.
The EPA and the White House have said they believe the limits are legal and have no plans to put it on hold. The attorneys general are submitting the formal request anyway to lay the groundwork to ask the courts to issue a stay once the EPA rejects their request.
The attorneys general said they will soon file a lawsuit challenging the legality of the emissions limits. Obama unveiled the final plan Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
