A federal appeals court has handed EPA a victory in response to a rare legal challenge to its use of a key compliance waiver but also voided the agency’s decision deeming one of the nation’s largest metro areas in attainment with a national smog standard.
“We affirm the approval of Michigan’s exceptional-events request and vacate the redesignation of the Detroit area to attainment,” a three-judge panel on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in an opinion released Friday.
The mixed ruling came in response to a pair of 2023 lawsuits brought by the Sierra Club.
Under the exceptional events program, states can ask EPA to exclude air pollution stemming from sources outside of their direct control when making decisions tied to compliance with ambient air quality standards for ozone.
