En Banc Panel At D.C. Circuit Hears Seven-Hour Oral Argument In Challenge To Clean Power Plan

On September 27, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument before an en banc panel in West Virginia v. EPA , a case involving challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") 2015 rule known as the Clean Power Plan ("CPP"). The CPP regulates carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. Oral argument lasted approximately seven hours, with the court hearing from various advocates for the states, industry, and EPA. 

Argument was divided according to five of the major topics addressed in the briefing: statutory issues other than Section 112 of the Clean Air Act; Section 112; constitutional issues; notice issues; and record-based issues not submitted on the briefs.