UPDATE: In their conference of February 23rd, the Supreme Court declined to hear Utility Air Regulatory Group v. New Jersey, clearing the way for the EPA to enact new, stricter regulations regarding mercury emissions from power plants.

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As noted on SCOTUSblog earlier, the Obama administration moved earlier this month to dismiss a case that the Bush administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had appealed to the Supreme Court. The case dealt with the Clean Air Mercury Rule—specifically provisions in the rule which allowed the EPA to de-list emissions sources without making specific health and environmental determinations. While this move by the Obama EPA will likely lead to the dismissal of the case in question—EPA v. State of New Jersey—another parallel case, Utility Air Regulatory Group v. New Jersey, remains before the Court.

The EPA’s motion dismiss likely puts that case in jeopardy as well; however, a coalition of electric utilities and trade organizations has asked the Court to continue Utility Air Regulatory Group v. New Jersey, arguing that the case has separate issues which are not made irrelevant by the dismissal of the EPA’s case.

Read their letter to the Court in full at SCOTUSblog.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.