EPA Airline Emission Rule Deemed Sufficient in DC Circuit Ruling

Airline emission standards finalized under the Trump administration that align with international aviation regulations don’t violate the Clean Air Act, according to a federal circuit opinion released on Friday.

A panel for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a 2021 lawsuit brought by California and a coalition of states, which claimed that airplane pollution rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2020 don’t do enough to combat airline emissions.

The states argued that the agency should have finalized technology-forcing standards for planes, which go further than the international standards that rely on control ...