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US Supreme Court rulings darken forecast for EPA powers By Reuters

US Supreme Court rulings darken forecast for EPA powers

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Steam rises from Duke Energy’s Marshall Power Plant in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, U.S. November 29, 2018. Picture taken November 29, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Keane/File Photo

By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) – In a span of 11 months, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a one-two punch against the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to combat air and water pollution in twin rulings that cloud future EPA regulatory moves, according to legal experts.

Rulings last week and in June 2022 constrained the EPA’s regulatory powers over protected wetlands and the emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants. Environmental groups decried the decisions as putting the interests of polluting industries and landowners ahead of public health and the environment. Many Republicans and conservatives lauded the rulings as necessary checks on the power of federal agencies and unelected officials.

The rulings together suggest that the U.S. Congress will need to more actively legislate to maintain or bolster environmental protections instead of relying upon EPA regulations that do not require the assent of bitterly divided lawmakers. But some experts noted that the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has signaled that even congressional action may not be safe.

“It seems the court will seize opportunities to weaken regulatory protections and agency power even if forced to do so in legally questionable ways,” Georgetown University Law Center environmental law professor William Buzbee said.

“In these cases, it’s very noticeable that the court doesn’t actually cite particular things that the agencies got wrong or failed to establish,” Buzbee added. “This is the court reaching in and distorting what Congress enacted.”

The rulings, embodying the court’s broader skepticism toward the power of federal agencies, promise to embolden challenges by industry groups, states and other plaintiffs opposed to federal regulation.

University of Virginia environmental law expert Cale Jaffe said the court has set aside decades of legislative and regulatory history in ruling against the EPA.

“The way forward is now so unclear because it’s much harder to predict what a future court will do in a challenge to any new regulation,” Jaffe added.

The court ruled unanimously on May 25 in favor of an Idaho couple who sued the EPA after being barred from building a home on property containing federally protected wetlands. But the court divided 5-4 – with five of its…

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