The Texas-led coalition of states, including Montana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana, stopped efforts by New York and a handful of other liberal states to enter into a friendly “sue and settle” agreement with EPA to needlessly tighten national ambient air quality standards for ozone. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed that EPA should not promulgate more stringent ozone standards until it engages in a comprehensive technical review of the existing standards. TPPF’s Center for the American Future serves as special counsel for Texas as co-counsel to the Texas Attorney General.
“Texas has once again stopped the Biden Administration from overreaching its constitutional limitations to implement an extremist climate agenda,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The laws must be respected, and I am pleased that the EPA will be ordered to follow the law and perform the required comprehensive review before attempting to reshape the American economy through bureaucratic mandates.”
“We refused to permit the liberal states to fast-track EPA’s scientific review of ozone standards in violation of the Clean Air Act. EPA must comply to the law — just like the rest of us,” said TPPF Senior Attorney Ted Hadzi-Antich. “Regulating ozone levels in the ambient air is a complex task that impacts virtually every aspect of the national economy, from energy production to transportation, and it is not appropriate to engage in hurry-up offense on such matters in order to score political points.”
As a result of the litigation, EPA will proceed in due course to periodically review the ozone standard as required by the Clean Air Act.
“TPPF and Texas will oppose government overreach that could devastate our nation’s economy and make life harder for average Americans. It’s been a long fight, but liberty prevailed again,” said TPPF attorney Connor Mighell.
To read the court’s remand order, click here.
Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit free-market research institute based in Austin that aims to foster human flourishing by protecting and promoting liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility. The Center for the American Future defends the Constitution through legal opposition to government overreach. The Center launches legal challenges at the administrative, district, and appellate court levels on behalf of ordinary people whose lives, liberty, and property are threatened by government action in defiance of the Constitution.
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