A federal appeals court in Washington reversed itself Tuesday and temporarily reinstated a Bush administration plan to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants.
In July, the court struck down the rule, saying the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its authority in designing a new emissions- trading system to reduce that pollution and must fix its “fundamental flaws.” Environmentalists criticized the decision as a major setback for clean air.
In Tuesday’s decision, the court said that having a flawed rule temporarily in place was better than having no rule at all. The agency must revise the rule but has no deadline for doing so.
The decision means that levels of smog-forming nitrogen oxides must be reduced in 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia beginning Jan. 1. Levels of sulfur dioxide, closely associated with the formation of deadly fine soot particles, must be reduced beginning a year later.
