Advocating for climate and clean air rules after a Supreme Court power grab

The document argues that recent Supreme Court rulings have shifted power from subject matter experts in federal agencies to the judiciary, creating regulatory instability and making it harder to defend environmental protections. It specifically analyzes the blocking of the Good Neighbor Rule, the elimination of Chevron deference, the expansion of statutes of limitations for challenging regulations, and the restriction of agency-led civil penalty enforcement. The author contends that these changes will lead to a 'tsunami of lawsuits' and a patchwork of conflicting legal interpretations, necessitating more rigorous technical and legal justifications for new agency rules.

• The Supreme Court's decision in Ohio v. EPA temporarily blocked the Good Neighbor Rule, which limits nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants and industrial sources in 23 states to protect downwind areas. The EPA estimated this rule would prevent over 1 million asthma attacks and save more than 1,000 lives annually by 2026.
• The ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overruled the 'Chevron deference' doctrine, which previously required courts to defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutory terms. This change may lead to regulatory uncertainty, a 'patchwork of decisions' across different courts, and a tendency for judges to apply personal policy preferences to technical questions.

APA

Goho, S., Sturges, F., Saltzman, V., & Sasso, M. (2024). Advocating for climate and clean air rules after a Supreme Court power grab. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2024/07/advocating-climate-clean-air-rules-after-supreme-court-power-grab/

Chicago

Goho, Shaun, Frank Sturges, Veronica Saltzman, and Mary Sasso. Advocating for climate and clean air rules after a Supreme Court power grab. Clean Air Task Force, 2024. https://www.catf.us/2024/07/advocating-climate-clean-air-rules-after-supreme-court-power-grab/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Goho |first1=Shaun |last2=Sturges |first2=Frank |last3=Saltzman |first3=Veronica |last4=Sasso |first4=Mary |title=Advocating for climate and clean air rules after a Supreme Court power grab |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=15 July 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/2024/07/advocating-climate-clean-air-rules-after-supreme-court-power-grab/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goho2024advocating, author = {Goho, Shaun and Sturges, Frank and Saltzman, Veronica and Sasso, Mary}, title = {{Advocating for climate and clean air rules after a Supreme Court power grab}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://www.catf.us/2024/07/advocating-climate-clean-air-rules-after-supreme-court-power-grab/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }