Cite as: 540 U. S. 461 (2004)
Opinion of the Court
for selecting Low NOx as BACT based on the more stringent control's impact on the mine's operation or competitiveness.
Nor has ADEC otherwise justified its choice of Low NOx. To bolster its assertion that SCR was too expensive, ADEC invoked four BACT determinations made in regard to diesel generators used for primary power production; BACT's cost, in those instances, ranged from $0 to $936 per ton of nitrogen oxide removed. App. 205-206; supra, at 480. ADEC itself, however, had previously found SCR's per-ton cost, then estimated as $2,279, to be "well within what ADEC and EPA considers economically feasible." App. 84; cf. id., at 204 (estimating SCR's per ton cost to be $2,100). No reasoned explanation for ADEC's retreat from this position appears in the final permit. See id., at 138 ("[SCR's cost falls] well within the range of costs EPA has seen permitting authorities nationwide accept as economically feasible for NOx control except where there are compelling site specific factors that indicate otherwise."). Tellingly, as to examples of low-cost BACT urged by Cominco, ADEC acknowledged: "The cited examples of engines permitted in Alaska without requiring SCR are not valid examples as they either took place over 18 months ago or were not used for similar purposes." Id., at 233-234 (footnote omitted). ADEC added that it has indeed "permitted [Alaska] projects requiring SCR." Id., at 234. Further, EPA rejected ADEC's comparison between the mine and a rural utility, see supra, at 479, because "no facts exist to suggest that the 'economic impact' of the incrementally higher cost of SCR on the world's largest producer of zinc concentrates would be anything like its impact on a rural, non-profit utility that must pass costs on to a small base of individual consumers," Brief for Respondents 49; App. 138-139 (similar observation in Nov. 10, 1999, EPA letter).
ADEC's basis for selecting Low NOx thus reduces to a readiness "[t]o support Cominco's Red Dog Mine Production Rate Increase Project, and its contributions to the region."
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