Kennecott Copper Corp. brings this challenge to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order that rejected a portion of the state of Nevada's implementation plan dealing with the control of stationary sources of sulfur dioxide (SO2).
All of the SO2 emissions come from a single source- the Kennecott copper smelter at McGill. The EPA based its decision on the belief that the Clean Air Act national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) must be met by continuous emission limitations to the maximum extent possible and that the Act permits the intermittent use of emission controls only when continuous controls are not economically feasible.
Kennecott contends that the EPA must approve any state implementation plan that will attain and maintain an NAAQS within the statutory time period. Who will prevail? Why?