Opinion ID: 858996
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the clean air act is ambiguous as to bact’s

Text: APPLICATION TO ASSOCIATED VESSELS NOT ATTACHED TO AN OCS SOURCE We next consider whether the Act clearly and unambiguously requires the application of all aspects of the PSD program, including BACT, to associated vessels operating within 25 miles of the OCS source, regardless of whether they are tied to the OCS source, as urged by REDOIL. In contrast, the EPA and Shell argue that the statute is ambiguous and that we owe deference to the EPA’s permissible construction that BACT applies to the Discoverer, which is a stationary OCS source, but not to mobile support vessels unattached to the drillship. To interpret the statute, we look first to the statute’s “language itself [and] the specific context in which that language is used.” McNeill v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2218, 2221 (2011) (quoting Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 341 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted)). If “the [expressed] intent of Congress is clear,” then the court and the agency “must give effect to [that] unambiguously REDOIL V . EPA 11 expressed intent.” Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842–43. If, however, “Congress has not directly addressed the precise question at issue,” then we must not “simply impose [our] construction on the statute, as would be necessary in the absence of an administrative interpretation,” but rather ask “whether the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute.” Id. at 843. An additional question is whether the EAB’s interpretation deserves Chevron deference. Congress explicitly granted to the EPA the authority to promulgate regulations and grant air permits for activities on the OCS. The EPA exercised that authority through a formal process that included multiple rounds of public notice and comment, various petitions for administrative review, and two reasoned EAB decisions upholding the air permits at issue. We join our sister circuits in concluding that the EAB proceeding is a formal adjudication that warrants Chevron deference. See In re Lyon Cnty. Landfill, 406 F.3d 981, 984 (8th Cir. 2005) (“EAB decisions . . . are formal adjudications consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act . . . , and due Chevron deference.”) (citing United States v. Mead Corp., 533 U.S. 218, 228 (2001)); Sultan Chemists, Inc. v. EPA, 281 F.3d 73, 79 (3d Cir. 2002) (holding that an EAB proceeding is a formal adjudication to which courts should defer under Mead if the statutory language is ambiguous); Piney Run Pres. Ass’n v. Cnty. Com’rs of Carroll Cnty., 268 F.3d 255, 267–68 (4th Cir. 2001) (noting that an earlier EAB decision articulating a reasonable statutory interpretation is entitled to Chevron deference). Chevron deference also extends to the EAB’s interpretation of the Clean Air Act, which is administered by the EPA. 12 REDOIL V . EPA It is useful to begin with what is clear and undisputed, both in the statute and by the parties. Under a plain reading of the statute, the PSD program and the BACT requirement apply to an “Outer Continental Shelf source.” 42 U.S.C. § 7627(a)(1) (The EPA is required to “control air pollution from Outer Continental Shelf sources” by establishing requirements to ensure that such sources “comply with the provisions of part C of subchapter I of this chapter [the PSD program].” ). The Discoverer, when it is attached to the seabed by an anchor, is an OCS source. Additionally, an associated vessel that is tied to the Discoverer while it is anchored to the seabed also becomes an OCS source because it is “[p]hysically attached to an OCS facility,” an alternative way to qualify as an OCS source under the EPA’s regulatory definition. 40 C.F.R. § 55.2. However, support vessels that are not “[p]ermanently or temporarily attached to the seabed,” or “[p]hysically attached to an OCS facility,” are not “regulated or authorized under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act” and thus cannot be an OCS source under the statute or under the EPA’s regulatory definition. See 40