(77b) Epa's Clean Air Act Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases

Ever since the passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, regulation of greenhouse gases has been controversial.  Throughout the George W. Bush administration, EPA creatively avoided adopting Clean Air Act regulations governing greenhouse gases.  Then, with the 2007 landmark United States Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v. EPA, the EPA was required to directly address greenhouse gas emission sources pursuant to the Clean Air Act.  In 2009 and 2010, EPA initiated several rulemakings governing greenhouse gas emissions, including the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, the Endangerment and Cause and Contribute Finding, the mobile source emission standards (the "Tailpipe" rule), the Tailoring and Timing Rules.  Throughout this period, the U.S. House of Representatives entertained several proposals to eliminate EPA, combine EPA with the Department of Energy or simply modify the Clean Air Act to remove any authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.  Then, in 2012, the D.C. Circuit reviewed all the legal challenges to the suite of greenhouse gas rulemakings and issued its decision.  This presentation will review the D.C. Circuit's decision regarding the validity of EPA's greenhouse gas regulations, impacts from the decision, and implications for future policy.