"After a series of legal twists that led to a stinging rebuke from a federal judge last week, U.S. EPA has decided to exempt a planned natural gas power plant in California's San Joaquin Valley from new air pollution rules, including limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

The agency announced the approval late Friday of the 600-megawatt Avenal Power Center, a project just north of the towns of Avenal and Kettleman City, which requested an air pollution permit in 2008. The final permit (pdf) will spare the plant from new limits on sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and greenhouse gases, all of which were put in place after the project was proposed.

EPA was pushed by a harshly worded decision (pdf) from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which ruled Thursday that the permit review had already dragged on too long. Judge Richard Leon ordered EPA to make an up-or-down decision by Aug. 27."

Gabriel Nelson reports for Greenwire May 31, 2011. [2]