Posted by Jonathan Adler:
California Sues EPA Over Waiver Denial:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_12_30-2008_01_05.shtml#1199376472
California filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency
challenging the EPA's denial of a waiver of preemption under the Clean
Air Act for the state's greenhouse gas emission regulations. Here's
coverage in the [1]Washington Post and [2]New York Times.
One interesting aspect of the suit, discussed [3]here on the Warming
Law Blog, is that California filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit, rather than in the D.C. Circuit. Most assume
the Ninth Circuit would be more receptive to California's arguments,
but most also assumed the suit would be filed in D.C., so what gives?
[4]According to the Sacremento Bee:
Generally, decisions by federal agencies must be challenged in the
District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which tends to be more
conservative than the 9th Circuit.
But lawyers backing California argue the state isn't constrained to
file in Washington, D.C., because the Dec. 19 ruling left out key
language stating that the decision was "of national scope and
impact."
"They did not put that boilerplate in, so we can challenge it
anywhere," said attorney David Bookbinder of the Sierra Club, which
has worked with the state to defend the emissions law.
Was this a deliberate choice by the EPA or an oversight? A third
option: EPA legal staff working who drafted the Administrator's letter
to EPA knowingly left it out, and none of the political appointees
caught it. In any event, seeing this suit in the Ninth adds an
interesting twist.
References
1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/02/AR2008010202833.html?hpid=moreheadlines
2.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/us/03suit.html?ex=1357102800&en=cb7bb7f1538ad46a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
3. http://warminglaw.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/waiver-denial-c.html
4. http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/605848.html
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
