EPA Will NOT Second-Guess Generators' Projections Of Future Emissions Under The NSR Program

I've noted numerous times that the NSR program is incomprehensible gibberish. These are scientific and objective comments. The most recent example of this is the DTE litigation, in which a one-judge minority somehow ended up writing the opinion of the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing EPA enforcement claims against DTE Energy to continue.

The question in DTE Energy is whether EPA can second-guess a generator's pre-construction prediction of future actual emissions and bring a claim for an NSR violation – even where post-project actual emissions did not show a significant net increase in emissions. While the 6^th Circuit said no second-guessing, it then allowed EPA to – you guessed it – second-guess DTE Energy's projections. (Does your head hurt yet?)