Virginia v. EPA

108 F.3d 1397 (1997)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Dozens of areas throughout the United States have not attained the national ambient air quality standard for ozone. The 'Northeast Ozone Transport Region,' defined in the 1990 amendments to the CAA, consists of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. It created the Northeast Ozone Transport Committee (NOTC). The NOTC could recommend control measures for the region. Each of these states had an implementation plan, adopted after public hearings, containing measures to control air pollution, and approved by D under section 110. NOTC believed that if the states in the Northeast passed legislation adopting the California car program this would help alleviate the ozone hazard. D had authority over time to require state review of standards. NOTC then petitioned D to adopt the California Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standard. D then declared that all of present state implementation plans were 'substantially inadequate' and in need of revision. D approved and issued an order to all the states involved to adopt the California standard. Ps challenged the rule in that D could not force any state to adopt D’s choice for control measures.