BURSTThe Supreme Court on Wednesday detailed a set of rules for when certain local actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can be heard by regional courts or when they need to be heard at the D.C. Circuit.
While technical, the decision may have some influence on actual policy outcomes since some regional federal courts may have a more liberal or conservative makeup than the D.C. federal court.
Hearing a pair of cases related to the issue, a majority of the justices found that locally applicable cases still needed to be heard in D.C. “only if a justification of nationwide breadth is the primary explanation for and driver of EPA’s action.”
In practice, seven justices ruled that challenges to the EPA’s rejection of exemptions for biofuel blending requirements at oil refineries needed to be heard in D.C. Justices Neil Gorsuch and John Roberts dissented.
Eight justices agreed that EPA rejections of state-level air pollution plans could be challenged in regional courts. Samuel Alito recused in that decision.