Activism at issue in 2 cases

Can an environmental group step into the fray on behalf of local residents to argue before Utah's regulatory boards?

Government officials say "no."

Two cases before the Utah Supreme Court strike at the heart of the ability of environmental groups to get involved in state regulatory issues, said Joro Walker, attorney for the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club.

At issue is the Utah Air Quality Board's denial of the Sierra Club's petitions requesting agency action regarding two permit requests for coal-fired power plants in Sevier and Delta. The Delta plant is to be a third addition to the Delta power facility.

During oral arguments Tuesday, Walker said the Sierra Club had concerns that the permits were legally adequate to protect the health and safety of residents living in the area, as well as the effects the power plants would have on the environment. She also noted that these are the first two coal-fired power plants to be permitted by the state in two decades.

However, the state Air Quality Board denied the group's petitions, saying the Sierra Club lacked legal standing because the organization was not a local resident that could show it could be at risk due to adverse emissions from the plants. The board did allow a petition from the citizen group Sevier County Citizens for Clean Air and Water, finding that the group comprised locals who could better submit more specific claims of possible damages by the proposed plant. In the Delta plant case, the Sierra Club was the only petitioner.

Walker said her group was acting on behalf of two or three local Sevier residents who had concerns about the proposed plant.

Fred Finlinson, attorney for Sevier Power Company, argued the Sierra Club's claims were too "generalized" and that the Sevier citizen group was in a better position to offer more specific claims, such as possible aggravation of those suffering asthma.

Finlinson pointed to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found making generalized allegations is not sufficient to find legal standing. Finlinson admitted that the citizens with the Sierra Club did have standing but that the Sevier citizen group was in a better position to bring up issues.

Justices questioned whether the board was making a best-out-of-two choice in granting Sevier residents' petition over the Sierra Club's. If that was the case, noted Justice Michael Wilkins, why wasn't the Sierra Club's petition granted in the Delta case, when they were the only voice of opposition?