Washington-The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD, District) has successfully defended an important rule relating to the ability of facilities within the district to use simultaneous emissions reductions after United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) disapproval of the rule.
On Sept. 6, 2024, the Ninth Circuit granted the District’s petition for review, setting aside EPA’s January 2023 disapproval of revisions to portions of the state implementation plan (SIP) addressing the District’s New Source Review permit program. The Court’s decision a mere 15 days after oral argument suggests the District’s arguments and request for swift resolution resonated with the Court.
The District’s challenge focused on EPA’s disapproval of District Rule 1304 as it relates to the use of simultaneous emission reductions to offset emissions increases at a facility. EPA admitted that it approved of the rule in 1996, as noted in the decision. But the Court held that EPA failed to adequately explain why it was reversing that prior approval and that the agency’s reliance on a 2002 change to 40 C.F.R. § 51.165 was insufficient.
Because EPA failed to provide an adequate explanation, its disapproval of Rule 1304 was arbitrary and capricious violating the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). The Court therefore invalidated the disapproval and remanded the matter to EPA to “sufficiently articulate its reasons” for reversing the prior approval, “should they exist,” “on an open record consistent with this decision.”
The District is pleased with the decision and the vindication of Rule 1304, which forms an important part of the District’s permit program and its constituents’ plans for complying with that program. The District looks forward to working with EPA in the future to cooperatively achieve their shared goal of improving air quality in the region.