J. LEON HOLMES, District Judge.
This is a citizen suit brought under the Clean Air Act seeking an injunction to stop the construction of a steel mill for which the appropriate regulatory authority has issued a construction permit. The question is whether the Clean Air Act authorizes such a suit. It does not.
The antagonists are competitors in the steel industry. Nucor Steel-Arkansas and Nucor Yamato Steel Company are sister entities that operate two steel mills near Blytheville in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Big River Steel holds a final permit issued by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on September 18, 2013, for a steel mill to be constructed near Osceola in Mississippi County, Arkansas. After the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued the final permit, Nucor requested a Commission Review and an Adjudicatory Hearing by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. Pursuant to that request, an administrative hearing officer conducted a four-day evidentiary hearing and issued a seventy-one-page opinion recommending that the Commission affirm the issuance of the permit. The Commission adopted that recommendation and affirmed the issuance of the permit. Nucor
Prior to 1970, the Clean Air Act was primarily a federal research program for air pollution. United States v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., 727 F.3d 274, 278 (3d Cir.2013). In 1970 Congress amended the Act and charged the Environmental Protection Agency with setting national maximum permissible levels of common pollutants for any given area. Id.; Sierra Club v. Otter Tail Power Co., 615 F.3d 1008, 1011 (8th Cir.2010). These maximum permissible levels of pollutants are called National Ambient Air Quality Standards or NAAQS. EME Homer City, 727 F.3d at 278; Otter Tail, 615 F.3d at 1011. The states may assume primary responsibility for deciding how to meet the NAAQS within their borders. Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency, ___ U.S. ___, 134 S.Ct. 2427, 2435, 189 L.Ed.2d 372 (2014); EME Homer City, 727 F.3d at 278-79. Each state that assumes this responsibility must develop and submit to the EPA a "State Implementation Plan." 42 U.S.C. § 7410. For areas that meet the NAAQS ("attainment" areas), in 1977 Congress enacted the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program as Part C of Title I of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7470-79.
In addition to the permit required for facilities within the PSD program, Title V of the Clean Air Act, which was enacted in 1990, "makes it unlawful to operate any `major source,' wherever located, without a comprehensive operating permit." Utility Air Regulatory Group, 134 S.Ct. at 2435-36 (citing 42 U.S.C. § 7661a(a)) (emphasis in the original).
Id. (citing 42 U.S.C. § 7661c(a)-(c)).
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality administers both of these permit programs in Arkansas. Ark.Code Ann. § 8-4-311(a)(1); APC & EC Reg. 19.101 et seq.; 40 C.F.R. §§ 52.170-52.200. Like a number of states, Arkansas combines the PSD and operating permits into a single permit.
As noted, Nucor contested the issuance of the permit to Big River Steel in an administrative hearing before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, which hears appeals from permitting decisions of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Ark.Code Ann. § 8-4-201. And, after that body affirmed the decision of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to grant the permit to Big River Steel, Nucor appealed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals for judicial review pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 8-4-223.
Title V and the PSD provisions of Title I require a state permitting authority to send the EPA a copy of each permit application and each permit proposed to be issued and issued as a final permit. 42 U.S.C. § 7475(d)(1); 42 U.S.C. § 7661d(a)(1)(A) & (B). The EPA has the right to object to the issuance of a permit, and, under Title V, if it does not object, a person may petition the EPA to do so. 42 U.S.C. § 7475(d)(2)(C)(i); 42 U.S.C. § 7661d(b)(1) & (2). Any denial of such a petition is subject to judicial review by the appropriate federal court of appeals under section 7607. Id. at (b)(2). Furthermore, the citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(2), authorizes the district courts to order the EPA to perform any act or duty that is not discretionary. 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(2). Pursuant to that provision, Nucor has commenced an action in the District of Columbia to compel the EPA to grant or deny its petition requesting the EPA to object to the Title V operating permit issued to Big River Steel by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
Nucor's complaint in this action alleges that the suit arises under the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq., including the Arkansas State Implementation Plan approved by the EPA pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7410 to implement the NAAQS, and the operating permit requirements of Title V of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7661 et seq. See Document # 1 at 2 ¶ 4. Nucor alleges that its claims are authorized by section 304(a)(1) and section 304(a)(3) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(1) & (3). Id. at 3 ¶¶ 6-8. Nucor's complaint alleges twenty-seven counts: Counts I through XIII allege that Big River Steel's permit fails to comply with applicable PSD requirements and are as follows:
Counts XIV through XXI allege that Big River Steel failed to satisfy the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) requirements and are as follows:
Counts XXII through XXVI allege that Big River Steel provided an inadequate application to the Commission and are as follows:
Finally, Count XXVII alleges:
Big River Steel has moved to dismiss the complaint for five reasons: (1) the Clean Air Act does not authorize citizen suits such as this one, which is a collateral attack on an air permit; (2) Nucor lacks Article III standing; (3) Nucor's claims fall outside the zone of interests protected by the Clean Air Act; (4) Nucor's claims are barred by claim and issue preclusion; and (5) the Court should abstain in favor of proceedings before the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Because the Clean Air Act does not authorize citizen suits such as this one, which collaterally attacks a facially valid state-issued permit, the Court will dismiss Nucor's complaint without addressing Big River Steel's other arguments for dismissal.
The citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act provides:
42 U.S.C. § 7604(a). Nucor contends that this action is authorized by section 7604(a)(1), which authorizes a citizen suit against any person alleged to be in violation of an emission standard or limitation, and by section 7604(a)(3), which authorizes a citizen suit against any person who proposes to construct or constructs a new major emitting facility without a PSD permit. Big River Steel's motion to dismiss is based on the commonsense observations that it cannot be in violation of an emission standard or limitation because the mill is still under construction and is not operational, so it is not emitting anything; and it cannot be guilty of constructing a major emitting facility without a permit because it has a permit. Nucor responds that the definition of "emission standard or limitation under this chapter" is broad enough to encompass its claims and that, despite the fact that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued a permit to Big River Steel, that permit is not "a permit required under part C of subchapter I."
The term "emission standard or limitation under this chapter" is defined as follows:
42 U.S.C. § 7604(f).
Nucor's argument that Big River Steel is in violation of an "emission standard or limitation under this chapter" is based on section 7604(f)(3), which defines "emission standard or limitation under this chapter" to include "any condition or requirement of a permit under part C of subchapter I of this chapter (relating to significant deterioration of air quality)." According to Nucor, violations of PSD requirements — such as BACT, modeling demonstrations and air quality analyses — and other SIP requirements vest subject matter jurisdiction in federal court for a citizen claim under Section 7604(a)(1). Document # 22 at 19. Thus, Nucor argues, "[t]his broad definition encompasses the pre-operation failures to comply with the requirements of PSD and the Arkansas SIP as alleged extensively by Nucor." Id. Nucor also argued to the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission that Big River Steel was not entitled to a PSD permit because it failed to comply with the pre-operation requirements of PSD, including BACT, modeling demonstrations and air quality analyses, as well as other SIP requirements; and those arguments were rejected. In this action, Nucor has again alleged those violations, and it has done so with great specificity.
Nucor construes section 7604(f)(3) to include any condition or requirement of obtaining a permit under part C, but the word obtaining is not in the text. The text defines "an emission standard or limitation under this chapter" to include "any condition or requirement of a permit under part C", not any condition or requirement of obtaining a permit under part C. Nucor does not allege that Big River Steel is in violation of any condition or requirement of its permit.
Nucor's argument under section 7604(a)(3) is similar to its argument under section 7604(a)(1). Nucor argues:
Document # 22 at 20. Thus, Nucor argues, even though Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued Big River Steel a PSD permit, Big River Steel does not have "a permit required under part C of subchapter I" because, contrary to the findings by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, Big River Steel did not satisfy the requirements stated in 42 U.S.C. § 7475(a). Section 7475(a) provides:
42 U.S.C. § 7475(a).
On Nucor's argument, 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(3) authorizes a citizen suit against any person who proposes to construct or constructs a major emitting facility,
Nucor alleges in its complaint and argues in its brief that Big River Steel's permit is invalid because at the time the permit was issued the State of Arkansas was tardy in updating its State Implementation Plan for purposes of compliance with the NAAQS for PM
Although Nucor disclaims mounting a collateral attack on Big River Steel's permit, its arguments amount to just that — a collateral attack on Big River Steel's permit. The Clean Air Act does not authorize a collateral attack on a facially valid state permit. United States v. AM General Corp., 34 F.3d 472, 475 (7th Cir.1994); Goodman v. PA D.E.P., Civil Action No. 07-4779, 2008 WL 2682698, at *2 (E.D.Pa. June 30, 2008); Nat'l Parks Conservation Ass'n, Inc. v. Tenn. Valley Authority, 175 F.Supp.2d 1071, 1078 (E.D.Tenn.2001).
The Fifth Circuit rejected an argument similar to Nucor's argument in CleanCOALition v. TXU Power, 536 F.3d 469 (5th Cir.2008). There, the district court construed section 7604(a)(3) as authorizing citizen suits only when an entity proposes to construct or constructs a facility without a permit whatsoever and therefore held that section 7604(a)(3) does not authorize preconstruction citizen suits against facilities that have either obtained a permit or
Id. at 479 (footnote omitted). See also Sugarloaf Citizens Ass'n v. Montgomery Cnty., Md., 33 F.3d 52 n. 9 (4th Cir.1994) (holding that the Clean Air Act citizen suit provisions, 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(1) and (a)(3), do not authorize suit against a person who has obtained a permit for the construction of a facility but has not begun emissions). In short, "[c]hallenges to state-issued permits may not be brought in federal court." Clean Air Act Handbook 575.
This is not to say that Nucor has no avenue for redress. In addition to its right to appeal to the Arkansas Court of Appeals,
Id. at 756. As noted above, Arkansas has integrated the Title I and Title V permitting requirements into a single permit, which means, according to the Ninth Circuit, that Title V authorizes judicial review of the entire permit, not simply the portions of the permit that relate to Title V.
In EME Homer City, the Third Circuit explained:
EME Homer City, 727 F.3d at 296-97 (citing Otter Tail, 615 F.3d at 1020; Romoland,
EME Homer City, 727 F.3d at 297-98 (quoting Otter Tail, 615 F.3d at 1020). "If the EPA Administrator believed the application or permit was deficient, Title V required her to object during the permitting process." Id. (citing 42 U.S.C. § 7661d(b)(1)). Thus, according to the Third Circuit, as well as the Ninth Circuit, a claim that a permit fails to meet PSD requirements and BACT controls is subject to the Title V procedure, which authorizes the EPA to object and which authorizes judicial review of the EPA's decision under section 7607.
At oral argument, Nucor argued that adopting this construction of the Clean Air Act would, in effect, hold that the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, which enacted Title V, repealed by implication section 7604(a)(3), which was added to the citizen suit provision in conjunction with the PSD program as a part of the 1977 amendments. According to Nucor, section 7604(a)(3) authorizes citizen suits alleging that a facially valid PSD permit is invalid because the permitting authority erred in determining that the applicant had met the PSD permit requirements. Therefore, Nucor argues, if Title V requires persons to follow its provisions to obtain judicial review of a PSD permit, Title V effectively repealed section 7604(a)(3). But, for the reasons explained above, Nucor's construction of section 7604(a)(3) is mistaken: section 7604(a)(3) never authorized citizen suits contending that a permitting authority erred in granting a PSD permit. Rather than repealing a provision that permitted citizens to obtain judicial review of PSD permitting decisions, Title V, as construed in Romoland and EME Homer City, grants to citizens the right to obtain judicial review of permitting decisions, including decisions regarding PSD permits, by authorizing them to petition the EPA to object, and if they disagree with the EPA's decision, to seek judicial review under section 7607.
In short, neither section 7604(a)(1) nor (a)(3) authorizes a collateral attack on a facially valid state-issued permit. Nucor's remedies are those provided in the state and federal statutes as part of the administrative process — appealing the state agency decision to state court (which Nucor has done) and petitioning the federal oversight agency, the EPA, to object to the state agency decision (which Nucor also has done). A federal district court has no supervisory authority over, nor jurisdiction to hear appeals from, a state administrative agency. This Court is without jurisdiction to review the decision of the state agency to grant a PSD permit to Big River Steel.
The citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act does not authorize suits such as this one, so this Court lacks jurisdiction over Nucor's complaint.