In a highly anticipated decision last week, the Supreme Court struck down a portion of EPA’s so-called Tailoring Rule for greenhouse gas emissions.  By its Tailoring Rule, EPA had attempted to regulate certain stationary sources under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V permitting programs, based solely on those sources potential to emit greenhouse gases (GHGs).  But because the numerical threshold required to trigger PSD and Title V regulation as set forth in the CAA were so low – 250 tons per year – thousands of small sources like apartment complexes, schools and churches would likely come within EPA’s regulatory purview.  Calling this result “absurd,” EPA attempted to “tailor” its regulations to subject only those sources that had the potential to emit 100,000 tons per year of GHGs to PSD and Title V obligations.
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