D.C. Circuit Hears Challenge To Clean Power Plan Regulations

On April 16, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ("D.C. Circuit") heard oral arguments in two consolidated cases that challenge EPA's proposed greenhouse gas emission standards for existing coal-fired power plants (the "Clean Power Plan"). The two cases — Murray Energy v. EPA, No. 14-1112 (D.C. Cir.) and West Virginia v. EPA, No. 14-1146 (D.C. Cir.) — were heard by a three-judge panel comprising Judges Thomas Griffith and Brett Kavanaugh (appointed by George W. Bush) and Judge Karen Henderson (appointed by George H.W. Bush).

In both cases, Murray Energy and a group of states ("Petitioners") are challenging EPA's legal authority to promulgate the Clean Power Plan, arguing that EPA is precluded from regulating existing coal-fired power plants under Clean Air Act ("CAA") § 111(d). Petitioners contend that the Clean Power Plan represents an impermissible "double regulation" because EPA already regulates such facilities under CAA § 112