On the Docket
Court Backs N.D., Co-ops in Air Case
A federal judge has sided with the state of North Dakota and electric cooperatives in setting back the Environmental Protection Agency in its bid to take control of portions of a regional air quality program.
EPA and North Dakota are locked in a dispute about plans to reduce haze at sites such as Theodore Roosevelt National Park. (Photo By: National Park Service)
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel L. Hovland said EPA failed to show that North Dakota acted capriciously when it selected a proven technology as the best available control technology for regional haze issues.
“The court finds there is no evidence that North Dakota’s decision is arbitrary,” Hovland wrote in a 34-page opinion released Dec. 21. “The EPA has not met their burden.”
The decision is not the final word in the case. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to announce by mid-January whether the state should be allowed to manage its own plan for regional haze.
EPA officials did not indicate whether they will appeal Hovland’s ruling, but North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the agency should permit the state to implement its own plan to reduce haze in national parks.
“These issues are about North Dakota’s sovereignty, its authority, and its demonstrated commitment to protect its environment and economic well-being,” he said.
Meanwhile, on December 14, the state’s congressional delegation again met with Jackson to urge her to reconsider North Dakota’s management plan.
The dispute has roiled the state since September, when EPA proposed to supersede the portion of the state program that deals with haze partially caused by nitrogen oxide emissions.
EPA wants Minnkota Power Cooperative, Grand Forks, and Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, to upgrade coal-based units with an expensive emission-control technology that’s not been proven to work with North Dakota lignite.
In his opinion, Hovland noted the technology, called selective catalytic reduction, has never been installed on a facility that uses North Dakota lignite. Nor would any vendor guarantee its success in a boiler at Minnkota, he added.
Nine states sided with North Dakota in filing supporting briefs in the case, which stemmed from a 2006 consent decree between Minnkota and the federal government. The G&T already has installed more than $400 million in emissions controls as part of that agreement.