5th Circuit Rules CAMR Permitted Power Plant Still Covered by MACT

In Sierra Club v. Sandy Creek Energy Associates, Inc., ___ F.3d ___, 2010 U.S. App. 24144 (5th Cir. 2010), issued just before Thanksgiving, that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that an owner of a coal fired power plant being constructed pursuant to a PSD permit was required to obtain a Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) mercury determination during construction, even if that determination was not necessary at the time the PSD permit was issued. Based on that holding, the court reversed a lower court denial of an injunction seeking to halt the project's construction. The ruling endangers any coal fired project permitted during the time the EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) was in effect.