ELR Citation: ELR 20043
No(s). s. 03-2839, -3329 (7th Cir. Jul 6, 2004)

The Seventh Circuit denied an environmental group's petition to review EPA's approval of the ozone SIP and maintenance plan for the St. Louis metropolitan area. The court rejected the petitioner's argument that the area's maintenance plan was deficient. An area need not use photochemical grid modeling as part of its maintenance plan. That is not an inevitable reading of the CAA, but EPA is entitled to deference. Nor does the St. Louis area lack a proper "applicable" implementation plan for the area under CAA §110. An "applicable" plan is not the same as the area's pre-attainment plan. Rather, an "applicable" plan is only limited to those measures that have proved to be necessary to achieve compliance.