West Virginia vs. EPA: An Environmental Regulations Case with Broad Implications for Agency Power
While still a newly minted lawyer early in 1977, I had the good fortune to land a job with the then brand-new Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. This coincided with the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter as...more
The ACOEL webpage “About Us” states that we are to be “Advocates for environmental law and process for a better environmental future.” Allow me to throw down this gauntlet to Members: What “better environmental future” is the...more
On the last day of its 2022 term, the Supreme Court curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants. The court held that the “generation shifting”...more
Introduction - In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court confirmed a robust “major questions” canon of construction that will restrain administrative agencies’ ability to regulate on issues of “vast economic and...more
What Happened: West Virginia v. EPA - In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jones Day client, the North American Coal Corporation, and determined that the EPA did not have clear authorization from...more
On June 30, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in West Virginia v. EPA, a case challenging the scope of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s”) authority to regulate...more
The US Supreme Court’s recent invalidation of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan under the “major questions” doctrine could make it more difficult for the Environmental Protection Agency to craft a similar regulation in the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions based on shifting from existing generation sources under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA)....more
In a 6-3 opinion, the high court struck a major blow to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), ruling the EPA cannot provide states with the right to issue regulations reducing the amount of carbon...more
On June 29, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an arcane portion of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), infrequently used by the EPA, could not serve as appropriate delegation of legislative authority to regulate greenhouse gas....more
Let’s take a look at what President Trump has done for the oil industry in his first year (This is not about decorum, dossiers, tweets, or Oprah’s inauguration.) As in the past I refer to sources whose opinions and insights...more
This Advisory briefly reports on some of the significant U.S. Supreme Court actions from January through June 2016 related to environmental and administrative law. ...more
In 2015, the Washington Legislature failed to act on Governor Jay Inslee’s cap-and-trade proposal to limit the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Since then, all branches of Washington State government, as...more
The third global summit on climate change has begun its meetings in Paris. Unlike the two previous summits, in Kyoto (1997) and Copenhagen (2009), there is optimism that an agreement under the auspices of the United Nations...more
On August 3, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Power Plan, the Obama Administration’s landmark effort to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants...more
On August 3, 2015, President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) utilized executive action to call for a major societal shift on climate change policy. The new rules, dubbed the Clean Power Plan, are intended...more
On Saturday, June 13, Governor Dayton signed the 2015 Jobs and Energy Bill into Law. The following amendments were made after the Governor’s veto: - New definitions for “propane,” “propane storage facility,” and...more