Court Rules on EPA Appeal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled today on the Environmental Protection Agency’s appeal of its May ruling that struck down the agency’s new soot and smog standards.

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	Background on the lawsuit from the ATA Environmental Affairs Dept. The court's ruling ATA's reaction to the ruling (Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)

The ruling largely leaves in place the court’s earlier decision, which prohibited EPA from enforcing its standards on fine particulate matter and ozone.

The three-judge panel rejected the agency’s request that the full appeals court rehear the case.

merican Trucking Associations, which brought the original challenge to EPA’s rules, claimed victory, saying that enforcement of the standards "would have imposed major costs on the trucking industry and other industries."

EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner had this to say:

"While we’re disappointed in today’s decision, we are encouraged that five of the nine judges who actually re-viewed the case agreed with EPA’s argument that the Clean Air Act is constitutional and recognized the impor-tance of the protections provided by our stricter air pollution standards."

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