Clean Air Act Enforceable Against States Under Ex parte Young

Clean Air Council v. Mallory, 2002 WL 31323360 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 18, 2002). The court found that the provision for citizen suits to enforce the Act "to the extent permitted by the Eleventh Amendment" indicates that Congress did not intend to preclude such suits by also including administrative remedies. The holding is hardly controversial, but the opinion contains a useful review of other cases involving the "alternate remedy" exception to Young.

The court also finds that the state has no special sovereignty interest in design of its clean air program so as to be able to invoke Cour d'Alene.

In perhaps the most interesting portion of the opinion, the court holds that plaintiffs' claim seeking enforcement of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) under the Act is a claim under federal law and is not barred by Pennhurst II, which held that federal courts may not enforce state law against states and state officials in their official capacity. The basic theory of the opinion is that the federal Environmental Protection Agency by approving the SIP, converts state law into federal law. Contra: Bragg v. West Virginia Coal Ass'n, 248 F. 3d 275 (4th Cir. 2001).