Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority to Regulate Emissions

August 1, 2014- The Supreme Court has placed limits on the Obama administration program already in place to deal with power plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.

The justices said the EPA lacks authority in some cases to force companies to evaluate ways to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. This rule applies when a company needs a permit to expand facilities or build new ones that would increase overall pollution.

The decision does not affect EPA proposals for first-time national standards for new and existing power plants. The most recent proposal aims at a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but won’t take effect for at least another two years.

The outcome also preserves EPA’s authority over facilities that already emit pollutants that the agency regulates other than greenhouse gases.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said “EPA is getting almost everything it wanted in this case.” Scalia said the agency wanted to regulate 86 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted from plants nationwide. The agency will be able to regulate 83 percent of the emissions under the ruling, Scalia said. The court voted 7-2 in this portion of the decision, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas saying they would bar all regulation of greenhouse gases under the permitting program.

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