The Biden administration says it will not appeal a federal judge’s decision to uphold a settlement agreed to by the Sierra Club and DTE Energy.
The agreement resulted in millions of dollars for reducing pollution and increasing energy efficiency in some Wayne County communities. DTE also agreed to shut down three coal-burning power plants. (See original story here.)
The Trump administration challenged the agreement.
“Basically, the Trump administration's position was that the president and the executive branch have complete authority over enforcement of federal environmental laws, which ignores the fact that those laws specifically include citizen suit provisions,” said Shannon Fisk with Earthjustice. He was the lead attorney for the Sierra Club.
“So, they were trying to radically rewrite the precedent here and the relevant standard that Congress had included in the Clean Air Act. Fortunately, the federal judge that heard their objections rejected it,” Fisk added.
The Biden administration issued a news release through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency saying it will not appeal the judge’s decision.
