| March 9, 2022 Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on the Scope of EPA’s Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which more than a dozen states and coal companies challenge the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. A key question in the litigation is the applicability of the “major questions doctrine”: the legal doctrine that courts should not defer to agency statutory interpretations on questions of “vast economic or political significance.” (See, e.g., Util. Air Regulatory Group v. EPA (2014) 573 U.S. 302, 324 [“We expect Congress to speak clearly if it wishes to assign to an agency decisions of vast ‘economic and political significance.’”] Those opposed to EPA’s climate change regulations argue, in part, that such rules are an administrative overreach violating principles of federalism dividing responsibility for environmental issues between the states and the federal government. The unique issue raised in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency is that there is no current regulation of greenhouse gases in effect. Instead, the case addresses a hypothetical future regulation…. Read More Written by Michelle E. Chester |
March 7, 2022
Stuart Somach Recognized by NCWA with 2022 Will S. Green Award for Lifetime Achievement
We’re pleased to announce that Stuart Somach has been recognized by the Northern California Water Association as its 2022 recipient of the Will S. Green Award. The award is presented annually to an individual who has devoted their life to the promotion and advancement of irrigation and regional sustainability in the Sacramento Valley…. Read More
Written by Somach Simmons & Dunn