Dive Brief:
- On Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court revoked a permit for Sunflower Electric Power's new coal-fired power plant.
- The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) had issued the permit, but the court ruled KDHE did not apply the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) one-hour emission standards for nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
- The court also ruled the KDHE must now take into account new EPA standards regulating mercury, acid gases and more toxins issued after the original permit.
Dive Insight:
Sunflower says the project is not dead and will work with KDHE to get approval for a new permit. But as EPA tightens emissions standards for new power plants, it will become more and more difficult for industry to build new coal-fired plants. States may mount challenges to the controversial new emission rules, but the Sunflower case shows state courts may be willing to enforce them.
