Opinion ID: 327674
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Clean Air Act Claims

Text: 51 Plaintiffs' request in the district court for a preliminary injunction was also based upon alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1857 et seq. The Service moved to dismiss those allegations claiming, among other things, that the Clean Air Act did not apply to it and that the Service was not required to request an indirect source permit from the State of New York. The district judge denied defendant's motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, and the opinion granting plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction based upon non-compliance with NEPA did not discuss the Clean Air Act claims. Nonetheless, the Service seeks to appeal the denial of its motion and asks us to dismiss plaintiffs' Clean Air Act claims. Plaintiffs move to dismiss that portion of the appeal. The motion is granted. Denial of a motion to dismiss is not a final order and is therefore not appealable. 2A J. Moore, Federal Practice P 12.14, at 2338 (2d ed. 1948). Nor is denial of a motion for summary judgment appealable. 6 Id., P 56.20(2), at 2745. Perhaps on the portion of the Service's appeal that is properly before us we might consider the Clean Air Act issues to the extent that the Service claims it is exempt from that Act as a matter of law. See 9 Id., P 110.25(1), at 270, 273, and Deckert v. Independence Shares Corp., 311 U.S. 282, 287, 61 S.Ct. 229, 85 L.Ed. 189 (1940). However, while we have not fully determined the matter, we lean toward the view that the Service is not exempt. This would still leave undecided the more complex Clean Air Act issues raised by the parties. Accordingly, we see no persuasive reason for considering the Clean Air Act claims, particularly since the status of the New York State Clean Air regulations is apparently in flux and the lower court has not yet determined any relevant facts. 52 The judgment of the district court is affirmed. The appeal from that portion of the order denying the Service's motion to dismiss or for summary judgment on the Clean Air Act claims is dismissed.