National Waste & Recycling Association v. EPA

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association moved to substitute into Case No. 16-1374 as a petitioner in place of Utility Air Regulatory Group or instead to intervene in support of the petitioners in Case No. 16-1371.

The D.C. Circuit granted a request by EPA and petitioners challenging the emission guidelines to continue to hold the cases in abeyance for 90 days while EPA proceeded with its reconsideration of the guidelines.

On May 5, 2017, EPA notified parties that had requested reconsideration of EPA’s new source performance standards and emission guidelines and compliance times for municipal solid waste landfills that it was granting reconsideration of six topics. The regulations chiefly targeted methane emissions from landfills. EPA also said it would issue a 90-day stay of the regulations in their entirety because the six topics were integral to both rules. On May 26, EPA filed a motion in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals asking the court to hold the case challenging the landfill regulations in abeyance for 90 days.

The National Waste & Recycling Association, the Solid Waste Association of North America, and three waste management companies filed a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final rule establishing emission guidelines for municipal solid waste landfills. EPA published the final rule on August 29, 2016. The rule lowered the emissions threshold at which landfills—which are a significant source of methane—must install controls. Utility Air Regulatory Group also filed a petition for review challenging the emission guidelines.