The nation’s highest bench could soon choose to stop EPA’s rule for mercury and air toxics emissions from power plants from taking effect while a legal challenge against the regulation plays out in a lower court.
In emergency applications docketed Monday with the Supreme Court, 23 Republican state attorneys general and at least one coal industry group made the case that the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS, jeopardizes the nation’s electric grids and is an unlawful exercise of EPA’s power.
They said the Supreme Court should put the rule on ice pending the outcome of litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — which has already rejected stay requests from the states and industry groups.
“Without a stay, the Rule will require investment and shutdown decisions to be made immediately, and those decisions will not be reversible if Applicants later prevail on the merits,” wrote the state attorneys general, led by Drew Wrigley of North Dakota and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, in their emergency application.
