Court Temporarily Blocks EPA's Texas Power Grab

One last bit of news in the old year, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the EPA from taking over Texas' emissions regime, at least temporarily.

Texas filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington yesterday, saying the EPA didn’t give adequate notice or allow for comments on a proposed federal takeover of the state’s air permitting program on Jan. 2. Last night, the court ordered the agency to hold off on its plan while the court considers whether to delay the move until the case is resolved.

The appeals court ordered the EPA to respond to Texas’s motion by Jan. 6. Challenges to federal rules are brought directly to appeals courts.

This is simply an administrative stay for the court to consider Texas' motion to preliminarily enjoin the EPA until the litigation is resolved, which is why I say it's only temporary.

There's plenty of background on the Texas takeover at this HotAir post from Monday. The short version is that the EPA says Texas isn't doing enough to regulate emissions, particularly carbon, with its state-level programs, so instead it gets to feel the boot of the federal government on its neck.

On Monday, Ed noted the odd timing of EPA's decision. It was announced just two days before Christmas, with implementation to take place on January 2. I've written at length and several times over the past year about the Obama Administration's startlingly frequent disregard for federal law when it comes to regulatory decisions.

Obama and his fellow bureaucrats are right that Congress has ceded a great deal of authority to the Executive Branch to do pretty much whatever it wants in certain areas. But a significant limit on governance by executive fiat exists both under the Due Process clause and the Administrative Procedure Act. Before the President can just order the Environmental Prosecution Agency to tie lead weights to Texas' economy, he must give Texas notice and an opportunity to respond.

This same restriction tripped up the Obama Administration in the Gulf and at Yucca Mountain this year, where courts deemed lawless various attempts by the Interior Department to arbitrarily favor economy-killing liberal policies over other alternatives. I expect 2011 will be much the same.

Thanks to @irishspy.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 06:04 PM

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