Appeals Court Rejects Attempts to Continue Premature Litigation against the Proposed Clean Power Plan

(Washington, D.C. – September 30, 2015) The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has denied several petitions to reconsider its decision to reject lawsuits challenging the proposed Clean Power Plan.

On June 9, 2015, the court rejected lawsuits filed by Murray Energy, West Virginia, and several other states challenging the proposed Clean Power Plan. The three-judge panel that originally decided Murray Energy and West Virginia unanimously denied requests to rehear the cases or keep them active by withholding issuance of the mandate. The challengers’ requests for review by the en banc court were also denied.    

The D.C. Circuit Court’s decision leaves undisturbed the court’s ruling that these challenges to the proposed Clean Power Plan were premature and unprecedented, and lacked any basis in law. 

“The D.C. Circuit Court’s decision is a welcome vindication of the rule of law,” said Tomás Carbonell, Director of Regulatory Policy and Senior Attorney at EDF.  “This decision should finally put an end to these misguided and unprecedented attempts to undermine critical protections for our climate and public health, and to circumvent the public’s right to comment and be heard on proposed rules.” 

You can read more about the lawsuits in our blog post and on our website – where you can also find all the legal briefs in the case.