Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation v. Environmental Protection Agency et al. (540 U.S. 461)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 21, 2004 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 540 U.S. 461 · 124 S. Ct. 983
- Decided
- January 21, 2004
- Term
- October Term 2003
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. This case concerns the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) to enforce the provisions of the Clean Air Act’s (CAA or Act) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. Under that program, no major air pollutant emitting facility may be constructed unless the facility is equipped with “the best available control technology” (BACT). As added by § 165, 91 Stat. 735, and amended, 42 U. S. C. § 7475(a)(4). BACT, as defined in the CAA, means, for any major air pollutant emitting facility, “an emission limitation based on the maximum degree of [pollutant] reduction . .. which the permitting authority, on a case-by-case basis, taking into account energy, environmental, and economic impacts and other costs, determines is achievable for [the] facility....” § 7479(3). Regarding oversight, the a struction and one geared specifically to the PSD program. The general prescription, § 113(a)(5) of the Act, authorizes EPA, when it finds that a State is not complying with a CAA requirement governing construction of a pollutant source, to issue an order prohibiting construction, to prescribe an administrative penalty, or to commence a civil action for in-junctive relief. 42 U. S. C. § 7413(a). Directed specifically to the PSD program, CAA §167 instructs EPA to “take such measures, including issuance of an…
Excerpt of a 69,415-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.