California Supreme Court: Pollution Controls Can be Based on Future Technologies
SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court has upheld standards by California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District that allow air pollution authorities to create air-quality regulations based on technologies that don’t exist but may be “reasonably anticipated to exist by the compliance deadline.” The ruling is a result of a lawsuit filed by the American Coatings Association (ACA) against the South Coast Air Quality Management District over amendments to a district rule that regulates emissions of VOCs from architectural coatings.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the American Coatings Association challenged standards that limited pollution-causing substances in coatings, claiming that new rules imposed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District should be based on the best available technology.