West Virginia v. EPA
West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, 597 U.S. 697 (2022), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court relating to the Clean Air Act, and the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can regulate carbon dioxide emissions related to climate change.
West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency
West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.
The North American Coal Corporation v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.
Westmoreland Mining Holdings LLC v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.
North Dakota v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.
Roberts, joined by Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Gorsuch, joined by Alito
Kagan, joined by Breyer, Sotomayor
The case centers on the Clean Power Plan (CPP) proposed by the EPA in 2015 under the Obama administration. Among the provisions, the CPP had included regulation at existing power plants under Section 7411(d) of Title 42 of the United States Code to implement "within the fence line" emissions reduction technology and "outside the fence line" generation shifting to alternative clean energy sources such as solar and wind power. The generation shifting aspects of the CPP were challenged by several states and coal industry companies, and the CPP was stayed by the courts and never came into enforcement. The Trump administration's EPA put forth a less-aggressive Affordable Clean Power rule in 2019 which was similar and stayed by courts. The stay was challenged by multiple states and coal industry companies, seeking to question the EPA's ability to regulate existing power plants under 7411(d) as proposed in the CPP. The case was not rendered moot when the Biden administration took over in 2020, as the EPA under the Biden administration stated their inclination to include "outside the fence line" controls, making the case still relevant to the authority the EPA had in interpreting their Congressional charter.
In a 6–3 ruling issued on June 30, 2022, the Court ruled that the regulation of existing power plants in Section 7411(d) fell under the major questions doctrine, and within that, Congress did not grant the EPA authority to regulate emissions from existing plants based on generation shifting mechanisms, which would have invalidated the Clean Power Plan. The EPA may still continue to regulate emissions at existing plants through emissions reduction technologies.
Impact[edit]
Some legal experts have stated that a ruling in West Virginia v. EPA which limits the EPA's power could have a significant impact on the agency's future ability to regulate emissions. In November 2021, Robert Percival, the director of the Environmental Law Program at the University of Maryland, said "This is likely to result in one of the most significant environmental rulings the court has ever reached."[27] Further, because the Supreme Court did not wait until the EPA issued new rules, others felt this signaled that the Court was willing to review Congressional authorization and consider if such authorizations violated the nondelegation doctrine of separation of powers, which would further hamper the EPA's capabilities to regulate emissions.[27] In November 2021, some legal analysts also believed that the Supreme Court's involvement is needed to resolve long-standing conflicts in § 7411(d) and other parts of the Clean Air Act.[32]
The resulting decision did not go as far some experts speculated in removing the Chevron deference or strictly limiting the EPA's powers. However the decision did suggest that major rules made by the EPA or other agencies that go beyond direct interpretation of Congressional mandates may be scrutinized under the major questions doctrine.[33] The rule also curbed further attempts to bring more clean energy sources through EPA regulations under the current CAA language.[34]
The ruling also impacted Biden's climate change plan, which relied on cleaner power sources. While it did immediately set back the U.S.'s efforts to reduce greenhouse gases as much as had been planned, the EPA is still able to mandate emission reduction technology on older plants, such as carbon capture and carbon sequestration, and converting coal plants to operate off natural gas, which burns cleaner than coal. These improvements could reduce the carbon dioxide output from plants by 10% to 15%. However, as guided by Michigan v. EPA, costs must be included in the EPA's assessment, which may limit what technologies could be used. States themselves are also free to set emissions regulations, such as existing Global Warming Solutions Acts, though these regulations and laws are expected to become the subject of litigation.[35]
Legal analyst Ian Millhiser questioned how the proposed CPP could have fallen under the Court's "major question doctrine" if the regulation would have had no effect, with the energy sector having met the CPP's targets more than a decade early even without it in place.[36]
Legislative action[edit]
In August 2022, the 117th United States Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) following the West Virginia decision. Among other actions, the bill was written towards several of the points raised in the majority decision and possibly overturns it. The law's language addresses the major questions doctrine by explicitly granting EPA new authorities to regulate greenhouse gases. Title VI of the IRA amended the Clean Air Act to explicitly designate carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride as air pollutants, codifying Massachusetts and unambiguously providing the EPA congressional authorization to regulate greenhouse gases.[37] Some legal experts believe this would allow the EPA to set "outside the fence" regulations on existing power plants as to promote clean energy.[38][39] Other analysts say the law does not extend the EPA's authority to alternative sources; Vermont Law School professor Patrick Parenteau said the Act does not include specific language towards generation shifting, leaving it as a potential major questions doctrine concern.[40]