Environmental Groups Challenge EPA's Timing On Regulation Of Emissions From Aircraft

In the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth filed a civil lawsuit in mid-April 2016 against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA" or "Agency") alleging "unreasonable delay" in "issuing an endangerment finding" regarding aircraft emissions and promulgating regulations to curb aircraft emissions. The plaintiffs seek a declaration that the delay is unreasonable, an injunction to require EPA to issue an endangerment finding and propose regulations within 30 days of the court's judgment, and litigation costs.

In June 2015, EPA proposed an endangerment finding that greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions from certain classes of aircraft engines contribute to climate change and endanger public health and welfare. EPA's proposed endangerment finding, which the Agency anticipates finalizing in 2016, did not recommend a U.S.-specific regulatory regime but instead indicated that EPA would later