(click on ads for more details)

Supreme Court Places Important Limits on EPA

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in American Trucking, while it did not strike down EPA's ozone rule under the non-delegation doctrine, did place important limits on EPA's authority. First, writing for the Court, Justice Scalia bounded EPA's regulatory authority in the Clean Air context by saying that any new standard needed to be "sufficient,
but not more than necessary" to protect public health. This restraint was suggested by the Solicitor General in oral argument. By reaffirming the Supreme Court's earlier pronouncement in Benzene, the Court's application of this standard makes clear that the use of sound science will be necessary in setting standards. Secondly, the Court's opinion does in fact recognize that the costs of compliance should be taken into account by the EPA and the states in implementing any standards. Again, at the Solicitor General's suggestion, the Court underscored the relevance of economic efficiency and feasibility to the implementation of standards.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/

getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol

=99-1257