Fifth Circuit Tosses EPA’s Rejection of Mississippi Air Plan

The EPA was wrong to reject Mississippi’s ozone pollution plan using data that wasn’t available when the state submitted the plan, the Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Mississippi argued the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of that data to disapprove its state implementation plan (SIP) was arbitrary and capricious and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The state was joined by Texas and Louisiana, who also filed petitions for review in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit when the EPA rejected their SIPs under the “Good Neighbor” provision of the Clean Air Act.

While the agency can use new information ...