On August 30, 2017 the D.C. Circuit denied environmental and labor groups’ request to stay the Tump EPA’s final rule delaying the Obama-era amendments to the EPA’s Risk Management Program (“RMP”) rule. The RMP rule implements Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act and requires facilities that use extremely hazardous substances to develop and update a Risk Management Plan.
In June, the EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a final rule to further delay the effective date of the RMP rule amendments until February 19, 2019 (“the Delay Rule”). The delay allows EPA to conduct a reconsideration proceeding to review objections raised by petitioners to the final RMP amendments rule.[1]
Environmental and labor groups challenged the Delay Rule in the D.C. Circuit and then moved to stay the Delay Rule until the court takes full review of it. The groups’ motion requests a stay of the stay of the RMP rule until the court can review the merits of the Delay Rule—which stays the RMP rule. Try to say that five time fast. In any event, the D.C Circuit denied the groups’ motion to stay the Delay Rule. In denying the request for a stay, the D.C. circuit held that the environmental and labor groups had not “satisfied the stringent standards for a stay pending court review.”[2] Thus the Delay Rule will remain in effect while the D.C. Circuit reviews the merits of the groups’ challenge.
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[1] 82 Fed. Reg. 27133 (June 14, 2017).
[2] The Court also denied EPA’s motion for additional briefing time on the merits of the groups’ challenge.