The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down an illegal permit that would have allowed Avenal Power to build a new gas-fired power plant in Avenal, Calif. In 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a permit for the project that illegally waived its need to comply with air quality safeguards. Had this permit gone through, the plant would have been built in one of the most polluted and economically disadvantaged areas of the San Joaquin Valley. In today’s ruling, the court admonished the agency, saying the applicable Clean Air Act statute “does not permit EPA to waive … requirements whenever it finds it convenient to do so.”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down an illegal permit that would have allowed Avenal Power to build a new gas-fired power plant in Avenal, Calif. In 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a permit for the project that illegally waived its need to comply with air quality safeguards. Had this…

If built, the Avenal gas-fired power plant would rain down pollution on one of the most polluted and economically disadvantaged areas of California’s San Joaquin Valley—a region known for some of the highest levels of ozone and soot pollution in the nation. The nearby cities of Avenal, Huron and Kettleman City are predominantly low-income, communities…

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