The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to resolve a dispute that concerns the interpretation of two important and related Clean Air Act provisions — the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements. 42 U.S.C. �7411 and ��7470-92. The case involves the application of the CAA regulations to eight coal-fired electricity generating plants located in the Carolinas. U.S. v. Duke Energy Corp., 411 F.3d 539 (4th Cir. 2005), cert. granted Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp., 2006 WL 1310699 (2006).
In the 4th Circuit, New Jersey and a number of other states concerned with interstate transport of air pollution, participated as amici in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and environmental groups’ position. Several coal-mining and coal-burning states took a contrary view, siding with Duke Energy.
