EPA Appeals Court Order Regarding Landfill Emissions Plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is appealing a court order that denies the agency additional time to release an already overdue plan to limit municipal landfill emissions, Bloomberg Environment reports.

In a December 10 appeal, EPA asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District to review why its request was denied. The deadline for the federal plan on greenhouse gases generated by landfills was November 6.

Plaintiffs claim that EPA’s motion for a stay pending a (possible) appeal should be denied: “EPA is likely to fail on the merits of its appeal, and the equities tilt sharply in favor of rejecting EPA’s bid to continue its years-long campaign to delay—without any persuasive rationale—implementing standards to protect human health and welfare. Indeed, if this Court grants EPA a stay pending appeal, the agency will have every incentive to appeal, to secure the precise delay it has sought all along.”

Bloomberg Environment has more information:

The EPA is challenging a court order that won’t give the agency more time to release a plan that is already overdue to limit municipal landfill emissions that include methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

In a Dec. 10 petition, the Environmental Protection Agency asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review why its request to delay the Nov. 6 deadline to release the final plan was denied.

Read the full story here.