AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Regional Haze” plan, an act his office believes is a win for the state.
The Federal Implemental Plan would force power plants in the state to install costly and allegedly unnecessary upgrades to their generators. Texas sued in February to challenge the rule’s validity, filing a motion to stay any enforcement rule, while the EPA filed to dismiss the case. The Fifth Circuit granted the state’s stay motion and rejected the EPA’s – announcing a ruling that the plan was likely unlawful. Compliance with the rule would create a large cost for Texas consumers, and Paxton’s office believes the rule would have imposed roughly $2 billion in costs without providing any visibility changes.
Texas has “demonstrated a strong likelihood of success in establishing that the EPA acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and in excess of its statutory authority when it disapproved the Texas and Oklahoma implementation plans and imposed a federal implementation plan,” the court said.