MATS Isnt Dead Yet  An Assessment of the Supreme Court Michigan v. EPA decision

The author argues that the Supreme Court's ruling in Michigan v. EPA did not vacate the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, but rather remanded the EPA's determination that regulating coal and oil-fired power plants was "appropriate and necessary" for reconsideration of costs. The document asserts that MATS emissions limits remain in place, potentially saving 11,000 lives per year, and that the decision does not affect other industries' air toxics standards, National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or the Clean Power Plan. While the ruling suggests that cost is relevant to regulatory actions involving ambiguous statutory language, the author notes that the EPA already possesses empirical cost of compliance data and a 2012 Regulatory Impact Analysis showing benefits outweighing costs by a 9:1 ratio.

• The Supreme Court's ruling in Michigan v. EPA did not vacate the MATS toxic air pollutant limits; instead, it remanded the EPA's initial determination that regulating coal and oil-fired power plants is "appropriate and necessary" to the DC Circuit for consideration of associated costs.
• The MATS rule is estimated to save approximately 11,000 lives annually through the reduction of mercury, acid gases, and toxic heavy metals in particulate matter such as chromium, cadmium, and arsenic.
• The decision in Michigan v. EPA is limited in scope: it applies only to the decision to regulate power plants under section 112 of the Act and does not impact the Clean Power Plan, National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or air toxics standards for other industries.
• The EPA's 2012 Regulatory Impact Analysis indicated that the benefits of MATS outweighed the costs by a ratio of 9:1, and the author suggests that updated assessments using empirical compliance data will further support the rule.

APA

Weeks, A. (2015). MATS Isnt Dead Yet  An Assessment of the Supreme Court Michigan v. EPA decision. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2015/07/mats-isnt-dead-yet-an-assessment-of-the-supreme-courts-michigan-v-epa-decision/

Chicago

Weeks, Ann. MATS Isnt Dead Yet  An Assessment of the Supreme Court Michigan v. EPA decision. Clean Air Task Force, 2015. https://www.catf.us/2015/07/mats-isnt-dead-yet-an-assessment-of-the-supreme-courts-michigan-v-epa-decision/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Weeks |first1=Ann |title=MATS Isnt Dead Yet  An Assessment of the Supreme Court Michigan v. EPA decision |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=2 July 2015 |url=https://www.catf.us/2015/07/mats-isnt-dead-yet-an-assessment-of-the-supreme-courts-michigan-v-epa-decision/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{weeks2015mats, author = {Weeks, Ann}, title = {{MATS Isnt Dead Yet  An Assessment of the Supreme Court Michigan v. EPA decision}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2015}, month = jul, url = {https://www.catf.us/2015/07/mats-isnt-dead-yet-an-assessment-of-the-supreme-courts-michigan-v-epa-decision/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }