Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corporation, 549 U.S. 561 (2007), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that while a term may be used more than once in a statute, an agency has the discretion to interpret each use of the term in a different way based on the context. In a unanimous decision, the court held in favor of the plaintiff's (Environmental Defense) argument.
This case addressed the Clean Air Act (CAA) and two of its programs, Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and New Source Performance Standard (NSPS). PSD applies to regulating annual emissions; NSPS pertains to regulating hourly emissions. Each section of the Clean Air Act, that outlines the provisions of the PSD and the NSPS, defines "modification" differently. As a result, the inconsistency of the term "modification" in the CAA becomes the main debate of the case and the main argument for both the plaintiffs and defendants.

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