The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
has rejected two lawsuits brought by 15 states and Peabody Energy
Corp., which seek to block the EPA's Clean Power Plan.
The lawsuits are In re West Virginia, D.C. Cir., No. 15-1277; In re
Peabody Energy Corp., D.C. Cir., No. 15-1284. The final Clean Power
Plan has not yet been issued, and EPA expects that it will be
published in late October. The petitioners requested that the Court
issue an extraordinary writ under the All Writs Act to block the
final Clean Power Plan, arguing that the rule is illegal on its
face. The Court ruled that the petitioners had not met the
stringent standards under the All Writs Act. Generally, a rule may
not be challenged before the agency publishes the final rule. EPA
argued that the All Writs Act did not allow the Court to intervene
prior to publication of the final rule and act as a substitute for
normal judicial review. This is the second time that the D.C.
Circuit
