D.C. Circuit Curtails EPA’s Authority To Weaken Or Freeze Ozone NAAQS

EPA’s ability to roll back or freeze ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) at the end of its ongoing review of the 2015 ozone standards is now severely curtailed following a federal appeals court ruling that includes bars on several policy steps the agency could have taken to help justify retaining or softening the Obama-era limits. In its unanimous opinion published Aug. 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Murray Energy v. EPA...