ELR Citation: ELR 20001
No(s). 91-1294 (D.C. Cir. Sep 25, 1992)

The court vacates the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) stay of radionuclide emission standards for Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities other than nuclear power reactors. The court first holds that prior to the passage of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA was not authorized to stay the effect of the radionuclide emission standards. The court holds that both the language and the purpose of the CAA preclude the authority claimed by EPA to stay the effectiveness of the standards. The court finds that the CAA §112(q)(4) stays the effect of the radionuclide emission standards for medical facilities only and does not imply an authority to suspend the application of the standards to other licensees. The court declines to read open-ended power into the CAA §301 grant of regulatory authority to EPA, concluding that the section does not authorize EPA to stay regulations that were subject to the CAA §112(b) deadlines. The court next holds that the 1990 amendments do not empower EPA to suspend the application of the standards, but instead instruct EPA to give effect to any previously promulgated radionuclide emission standard unless it has been modified, and EPA does not claim that any of the standards have been modified.

Counsel for Petitioner
Graeme W. Bush, Julia L. Porter
Natural Resources Defense Council
1350 New York Ave. NW, Washington DC 20005
(202) 783-7800

Counsel for Respondents
Alice L. Mattice
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Timothy D. Backstrom
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M St. SW, Washington DC 20460
(202) 260-2090

Before SILBERMAN, BUCKLEY, and SENTELLE, Circuit Judges.