Avalanche of Lawsuits to Be Triggered by Carbon Rule Publication
- Rule to be contested on scope, competing Clean Air Act parts
- Critics say EPA delayed publication to put off a legal stay
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Lawyers are expected to unleash a flood of lawsuits Friday when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes regulations on power-plant pollution, challenging everything from the timing to the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s signature climate initiative.
“I expect this to be the biggest and messiest legal battle that the EPA has ever faced,” said Brian Potts, a lawyer at Foley & Lardner LLP who specializes in the Clean Air Act and has written about the rule’s legal viability. “There will literally be hundreds of parties challenging this rule, and at least as many defending it. That’s a lot of lawyers arguing with each other.”