EPA PLAN TO 'GRANDFATHER' KEY AIR PERMIT RAISES MAJOR LEGAL, POLICY QUERIES

Abstract

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has taken the unusual step of granting air chief Gina McCarthy the authority to issue the final permit for the Avenal power plant -- the test case for whether EPA can "grandfather" pending permits from greenhouse gas (GHG) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits -- but the move is raising major legal and policy questions because it circumvents EPA Region IX's usual role in the permitting process.