AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A state judge has struck down a state air permit for a planned coal-fired power plant on the Texas coast.
State District Judge Stephen Yelenosky's ruling came Wednesday in Austin. He says state regulators didn't require backers of the Las Brisas Energy Center to show it would meet standards intended to ease air pollution.
A spokesman for the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality says the agency believes the permit is sufficiently protective. He says the agency is considering its next move.
Last May, Yelenosky rejected a previous TCEQ permit, saying the regulatory agency used models in granting its approval that failed to meet national air quality standards.
Environmental groups have raised air quality concerns about the unit planned for Corpus Christi's inner harbor.