SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - California's plan to regulate pesticides does not violate the Clean Air Act, the 9th Circuit ruled. A coalition of community organizations claimed that the state had improperly calculated the baseline for emissions standards and ignored deadlines for airborne pesticide emissions.
The district court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to judge the state's methodology, yet it approved the plaintiffs' remedial plan, which was based on a different methodology.
Judge McKeown ruled that the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider either method.
"The baseline methodology is not an 'emissions standard or limitation' that falls within the district court's jurisdiction," McKeown wrote. "It necessarily follows that the district court also lacked jurisdiction to impose remedies based on the alleged deficiencies in the baseline methodology."
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