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<title>September 2003: Northeastern States Prevail in Lawsuit to Apply Clean Air
Act Requirements to Old Power Plant in Ohil</title>
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<p align="left"><strong><small><font face="Arial">About The Author:</font></small></strong></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" style="font-size: 9pt">Robert A. Olson is a partner in the law firm of
Brown, Olson & Gould, P.C. which maintains a nationwide practice in energy law,
public utility law and related commercial transactions.</font></p>
<p><small><font face="Arial"><font style="font-size: 9pt">He can be reached at:</font><br>
<br>
<b><font color="#0000FF">Brown, Olson & Gould, PC</font></b><br>
2 Delta Drive<br>
Suite 301<br>
Concord, NH 03301<br>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><br>
(603) 225-9716<br>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]"></a></font></small></p>
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</center><p align="left"><b><u><br>
September 2003</u><font size="6"><br>
Northeastern States Prevail in
Lawsuit to Apply <br>
Clean Air Act Requirements
to Old Power Plant in Ohio</font></b><strong><br>
by Robert Olson -- Brown, Olson and Wilson, P.C.<br>
</strong><font face="Arial" size="2">(<em>originally published by PMA OnLine Magazine:
200</em>3/09/26</font></p>
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<p align="left"><span style="font-family: Arial">Connecticut, New Jersey,
New York and the United States recently won a lawsuit in federal court over
applicability of the federal Clean Air Act (the "Act"), 42 U.S.C. �� 7401 et
seq., to an old coal-fired electric generating facility operated by Ohio
Edison Company ("Ohio Edison"). United States of America v. Ohio Edison
Company, No. 2:99-CV-1181, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13799 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 7,
2003). Among other things, the Act requires installation of pollution
control devices on major stationary sources of air pollution constructed or
modified after promulgation of regulations implementing the Act. 42 U.S.C. �
7411(a). Ohio Edison’s W.H. Sammis Station plant in Ohio (the "Sammis
Plant") was constructed before passage of the Act and would therefore not be
subject to the Act’s requirement for installation of pollution control
devices unless subsequently "modified." Under applicable regulations,
modification does not include "routine maintenance, repair and replacement."
See 40 C.F.R. � 52.21(b)(2)(iii)(a). At issue in the case was whether eleven
construction projects undertaken on seven electric generating units at the
Sammis Plant constituted "routine maintenance, repair and replacement."</span></p>
<p align="left"><span style="font-family: Arial">The court determined that
the projects did not constitute "routine maintenance, repair and
replacement" and that the requirements of the Act do apply to the Sammis
Plant.</span></p>
<p align="left"><span style="font-family: Arial">In making its
determination, the court focused on whether the changes made to the Sammis
Plant were "routine." Following the Environmental Protection
Administration’s ("EPA") own four-part test, the court considered (1) the
nature and extent of the activity, (2) the purpose of the activity, (3) the
frequency of the activity, and (4) the cost of the activity. Regarding the
nature and extent of the activity, the court found that the projects
involved replacement or upgrade of major boiler components. The court found
that the purpose of the activity was to increase the availability and
reliability of the electric generating units and extend the life of each
unit approximately thirty years. Regarding frequency, the court found that
the component and equipment replacements had, in almost all cases, never
been performed on the units before and, given the purpose of extending unit
life thirty years, were unlikely to be made more than once or twice in a
unit’s lifetime. The court found that the cost of each of the eleven
projects ranged from $1 million to $33 million, and totaled $136.4 million.
Under these facts, the court held that the projects could not be considered
"routine maintenance, repair and replacement."</span></p>
<p align="left"><span style="font-family: Arial">The court rejected Ohio
Edison’s argument that whether an activity is routine should be evaluated in
light of the types of activities performed in the industry as a whole.
Instead, the court approved of the EPA’s approach, which takes industry
practice into account only with respect to consideration of the frequency of
the activity. Even with respect to frequency, the court found industry
practice to be a less important consideration than the frequency with which
the activity has been performed on the particular unit in question.</span></p>
<p align="left"><span style="font-family: Arial">The court has deferred
consideration of penalties and injunctive relief to a separate, remedy phase
trial to commence in March of 2004. The court’s opinion indicates that the
remedy phase will involve a broader, equitable analysis, taking into
account, among other things, economic impact, employment consequences, and
inconsistencies in the EPA’s application and enforcement of the Act over the
years.</span></p>
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<blockquote>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial">
<small>Robert A. Olson is a partner in the law firm of Brown, Olson &
Gould P.C.
which maintains a nationwide practice in energy law, public utility law and related
commercial transactions. He can be reached at:</small></font><p align="center">
<font face="Arial"><small><font color="#0000FF"><b>Brown, Olson & Gould, PC</b></font><br>
2 Delta Drive, Suite 301<br>
Concord, NH 03301 <br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> | (603) 225-9716<a href="mailto:[email protected]"></a></small></font>
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