Judge Denies EPA's Request to Shift Landfill Emissions Timeline

A U.S. District Court judge in Northern California has denied a request from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking to shift its timeline for implementing a 2016 rule targeting landfill emissions.

Waste Dive reports that in a six-page decision, the judge wrote that the EPA's request for a delay is an effort to "sidestep" a previous court order from May. That order ruled the EPA had failed to meet its "nondiscretionary duties" under the Clean Air Act and required the agency to finalize an implementation plan for the 2016 Emissions Guidelines rule by November 6, according to the report.

The ruling stays the judgment for 60 days to allow either party to appeal.

Waste Dive has more information:

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday denied a request from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking to shift its timeline for implementing a 2016 rule targeting landfill emissions. The decision is a victory for attorneys general from eight states, as well as the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which pushed back on the EPA's request in September.

Judge Haywood Gilliam wrote in a six-page decision that the EPA's request for a delay is an effort to "sidestep" a previous court order from May. That order ruled the EPA had failed to meet its "nondiscretionary duties" under the Clean Air Act and required the agency to finalize an implementation plan for the 2016 Emissions Guidelines (EG) rule by Nov. 6.

Read the full article here.