The Clean Air Act (Environmental Law Series)

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of 179 U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that discuss, analyze and interpret provisions of the Clean Air Act. The selection of decisions spans from 2004 to the date of publication.

Congress enacted the Clean Air Act "to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation's air resources." 42 U.S.C. § 7401(b)(1). The Act governs the emissions of hazardous air pollutants that present "a threat of adverse human health effects ... or adverse environmental effects." Id. § 7412(b)(2). Delaware Dept. of Natural Res. & Envt'l Control v. EPA, 785 F. 3d 1 (DC Cir. 2015).

The Clean Air Act directs the EPA to establish national ambient air quality standards ("NAAQS") for pollutants that endanger public health or welfare. 42 U.S.C. § 7409. The CAA requires the states to submit State Implementation Plans, or "SIPs," showing how the states will attain the NAAQS for the major air pollutants. Id. § 7410(a)(1). The EPA is tasked with determining whether a SIP complies with the Act's requirements. Id. § 7410(k)(3). Once approved by the EPA, a SIP has the "force and effect of federal law." Safe Air For Everyone v. EPA, 488 F.3d 1088, 1091 (9th Cir.2007). El Comité Para el Bienestar v. USEPA, 786 F. 3d 688 (9th Cir. 2015).

States typically must enact and submit their plans — called State Implementation Plans or SIPs — within three years of any new or revised NAAQS. Id. If a State declines to submit a SIP, or if EPA finds that the State's SIP fails to satisfy the minimum criteria of the Clean Air Act, EPA must promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan, or FIP, in its stead. See id. § 7410(c)(1). EME Homer City Generation, LP v. EPA, 795 F. 3d 118 (DC Cir. 2015).

The CAA creates a partnership between the federal government and the states to combat air pollution. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Transp., 770 F.3d 1260, 1264 (9th Cir. 2014). [ ] Specifically, each state must adopt, and submit for the EPA's approval, a SIP that provides for the "implementation, maintenance, and enforcement" of the NAAQS. Id. § 7410(a)(1). While a state has considerable discretion in formulating its SIP, the SIP must include "enforceable emission limitations" and control measures and "a program to provide for the enforcement" of such measures. Id. § 7410(a)(2)(A), (C). It must further provide "necessary assurances" that the state has "adequate personnel, funding, and authority" to carry out the SIP, and is not prohibited from doing so by "any provision of Federal or State law." Id. § 7410(a)(2)(E). Once approved by the EPA, a SIP becomes federal law and must be carried out by the state. Safe Air for Everyone v. EPA, 488 F.3d 1088, 1091 (9th Cir.2007); Bayview Hunters Point Cmty. Advocates v. Metro. Transp. Comm'n, 366 F.3d 692, 695 (9th Cir.2004). A state's SIP evolves as the state proposes, and the EPA approves, revisions to account for new NAAQS and emissions reduction technologies. 42 U.S.C. § 7410(a)(2)(H). Approved SIPs may be enforced "by either the State, the EPA, or via citizen suits." Bayview, 366 F.3d at 695. California Dump Truck Owners Ass'n v. Nichols, 778 F. 3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2015).

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