Late Friday, December 30th, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) as it hears arguments from petitioners challenging the rule’s implementation. The ruling also ordered EPA to continue enforcing CSAPR’s predecessor regulation, the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).

Petitioners were asked to prepare for arguments to take place in April of 2012. Arguments will focus on the merits of the rule, as well as Texas’ challenge to the rule, which regulated emissions of SO2 and NOx.

CSAPR was intended to replace CAIR, which itself was vacated by court ruling. Now, CAIR is back in place pending the resolution of challenges to the cross-state rule.

For current pricing and more information on the market impacts of the Court ruling on U.S. emissions trading markets, please contact our Emissions Markets Team at: +1 914.323.0255.