United States Ninth Circuit

Dismissal of plaintiff environmental groups' Clean Air Act (CAA) citizen-suit seeking to require the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Administrator to issue revised regulations governing ozone pollution is affirmed, where: 1) the CAA's citizen-suit provision, 42 U.S.C. section 7604, authorizes suits against the EPA's Administrator only for actions where there is an alleged failure by the Administrator to perform an act or duty which is not discretionary; 2) given the ambiguity of section 166(a) of the CAA, the existing of a non discretionary duty to promulgate revised Prevention of Significant Deterioration regulations for ozone was not readily ascertainable from the statute; and 3) this was enough to preclude plaintiffs' reliance on section 7604 as the jurisdiction basis for their suit.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/01/2014
• Published 12/01/2014

Judges

• Watford

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel