Oral Argument Hints that Supreme Court May Trim Back U.S.
Industrial Source Greenhouse Gas Regulations  Today the Supreme
Court heard oral argument in Utility Air Regulatory Group v.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in which petitioners
challenged the EPA’s “Prevention of Significant Deterioration”
(“PSD”) regulations for stationary industrial sources of
greenhouse gases. These regulations, finalized in 2010, require
sources that emit over 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases to
obtain a PSD permit and adopt the “best available control
technology” for every pollutant that they emit, including
greenhouse gases.  The oral argument provided few surprises: it
was as complex as expected in this case of arcane statutory
interpretation. As described below, the argument did hint,
however, that the Supreme Court might adopt a compromise
position, holding that 1) industrial sources cannot be required
to obtain a PSD permit purely on the basis of their greenhouse
gas emissions, but 2) can be required to adopt best ava