Court Turns Aside Rule on Air Pollution Drift

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court unanimously struck down a signature component of President Bush’s clean-air policies Friday, dealing a blow to environmental groups and likely delaying further action until the next administration.

The regulation, known as the Clean Air Interstate Rule, required 28 mostly Eastern states – including West Virginia – to reduce smog- forming and soot-producing emissions that can travel long distances in the wind. The Environmental Protection Agency predicted it would prevent about 17,000 premature deaths a year.

North Carolina and some electric power producers opposed aspects of the regulation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that the EPA overstepped its authority by instituting the rule. It said the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA the authority to change pollution standards the way it did. Citing “more than several fatal flaws,” the court scrapped the entire regulation.

– The Associated Press

(c) 2008 Charleston Gazette, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.