ELR Citation: ELR 20068
No(s). 07-72756 (9th Cir. Mar 3, 2010)

The Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review of an EPA order that rejected petitioner’s request relating to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s (ADEC) issuance of a CAA Title V permit for an oil and gas processing facility in Prudhoe Bay. Pursuant to CAA §505(b)(2), the petitioner requested that EPA object to the permit because ADEC had not properly aggregated stationary sources of air pollution. EPA denied petitioner’s request. In considering the petitioner’s burden, the court held that the word “demonstrate” in CAA §505(b)(2) is an ambiguous term. The ambiguity of the term suggests that Congress left the meaning open for EPA to supply a reasonable interpretation. Nothing in the EPA order qualifies as an impermissible interpretation of petitioner’s burden. EPA's requirement that petitioner support his allegations with legal reasoning, evidence, and references is reasonable and persuasive. Accordingly, EPA’s conclusion that petitioner failed to provide adequate information to support his claim is not arbitrary or capricious.