An NSR Enforcement Decision – Last Of A Dying Breed?

Late last month, Federal Judge Rodney Sippel ruled that EPA could obtain injunctive relief against Ameren Missouri in the long-running NSR enforcement case concerning Ameren's Rush Island Plant.  The Court had already ruled that Ameren had violated the Clean Air Act by failing to obtain a PSD permit prior to implementing substantial modifications at the plant.

Having lost at the liability stage, Ameren took three shots at avoiding injunctive relief.  Three strikes and Ameren's out.  The Court concluded that:

• It has it has authority to issue an injunction for a past violation, even where EPA has withdrawn its penalty claim.  The Court distinguished cases where ownership had changed since the modifications were made.