TVA Not Subject To EPA On Coal Pollution - Supreme Court Refuses Case

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON - "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a lower court's decision allowing the Tennessee Valley Authority to ignore a government order to clean up pollution from its coal-fired power plants.

Emissions from TVA's aging plants have been blamed for smog and haze that block vistas in national parks like the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration sued the TVA and several other utilities for upgrading plants without installing pollution controls required under a section of the Clean Air Act known as "new source review."

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta last June rejected the process the EPA used to force TVA to comply with the guidelines as "contrary to the rule of law." The Justice Department, pressing the case on behalf of the EPA, in February asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling. The high court rejected the request with no comment or explanation.

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Created during the Depression, TVA is the nation's largest public power producer and supplies about 8 million customers in seven southeastern states. It owns 11 coal-fired plants. Utility groups applauded the decision, while environmental groups called on the Justice Department to refile its case in a federal court."

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http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/24990/story.htm