ELR Citation: 47 ELR 20091
No(s). 15-1246 (D.C. Cir. Jul 18, 2017)

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA must justify emissions limits set for certain hazardous air pollutants. The CAA requires EPA to set limits for seven different hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). In 2015, the Agency claimed to have identified sources of these pollutants and set emissions limits for them. Environmental advocates disputed the Agency's findings, claiming that the Agency arbitrarily relied on controlling the emissions of other pollutants to control the emissions of three HAPs: polycyclic organic matter, hexachlorobenzene, and polychlorinated biphenyls. EPA argued that as surrogates of other pollutants, the three HAPs in question were controlled by controlling the emissions of the others. The court ruled that EPA must provide further evidence that the emissions of those HAPs were sufficiently controlled.