Various states sued EPA over its tailoring rule, by which the agency rolled out enforcement of greenhouse gas regulations to the largest facilities first, followed by smaller ones later. States must comply with EPA's new regulations. The NAM and 14 other business associations in our coalition filed a motion to intervene in litigation filed by representatives of 8 states challenging EPA's authority. Their lawsuit sought judicial review of EPA's plan to retroactively limit its previous approval of pollution thresholds in State Implementation Plans (SIPs). The states are likely to argue that EPA violated the Clean Air Act by its reinterpretation of existing regulations, which would result in significant additional costs to manufacturers regulated under state programs.
The NAM's intervention in this case is designed to assist the court in understanding the interaction between EPA's requirements, state implementation programs, and emissions permit requirements affecting manufacturers.
The NAM and other organizations also filed a separate petition to review the EPA's tailoring rule. On March 10, 2015, the D.C. Circuit ruled that EPA's rules are vacated in part, consistent with the Supreme Court's ruling in Utility Air Regulatory Grop v. EPA.