Judge Dismisses Suit Against EPA's RD&D Rule

A federal appeals court has dismissed an environmental group’s challenge of the Washington-based Environmental Protection Agency’s Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Rule. The rule allows state directors of federally approved municipal solid waste landfill permit programs to issue RD&D permits to landfills to conduct research and development on bioreactor landfills.

Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the Madison, Wis.-based GrassRoots Recycling Network’s (GRRN) lawsuit after determining that the organization did not have the standing to seek a review of the rule.

In 2004, the National Solid Wastes Management Association, Washington, and the Solid Waste Association of North America, Silver Spring, Md., filed a joint amicus brief in the case supporting the RD&D rule.