Cite as: 540 U. S. 461 (2004)
Kennedy, J., dissenting
ling pollution and, here, the exclusive role in making BACT determinations. In "cho[osing] not to dictate a Federal response to balancing sometimes conflicting goals" at the expense of "[m]aximum flexibility and State discretion," H. R. Rep. No. 95-294, p. 146 (1977), Congress made the overriding judgment that States are more responsive to local conditions and can strike the right balance between preserving environmental quality and advancing competing objectives. By assigning certain functions to the States, Congress assumed they would have a stake in implementing the environmental objectives of the Act. At the same time, Congress charged EPA with setting ambient standards and enforcing emission limits, 42 U. S. C. § 7475(a)(3), to ensure that the Nation takes the necessary steps to reduce air pollution.
The presumption that state agencies are not to be trusted to do their part is unwarranted in another respect: EPA itself said so. As EPA concedes, States, by and large, take their statutory responsibility seriously, and EPA sees no reason to intervene in the vast majority of cases. Brief for Respondents 30, n. 9; 57 Fed. Reg. 28095 (1992) ("States have been largely successful in ['administering and enforcing the various components of the PSD program'], and EPA's involvement in interpretative and enforcement issues is limited . . ."). In light of this concession, EPA and amici not only fail to overcome the established presumption that States act in good faith, see Alden v. Maine, 527 U. S. 706, 755 (1999) ("We are unwilling to assume the States will refuse to honor . . . or obey the binding laws of the United States"), but also admit that their fears about a race to the bottom bear little relation to the real-world experience under the statute. See ante, at 502 ("We see no reason not to take EPA at its word").
II
The statute contains safeguards to correct arbitrary and capricious BACT decisions when they do occur. Before EPA approves a State's PSD permit program that allows a
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