West Virginia v. EPA (20-1530)
argument 20-1530West Virginia v. EPA
Supreme Court of the United States
2h 3m
8 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 6 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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What is the scope of EPA’s authority under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act?
We will hear argument this morning in case twenty fifteen thirty, West Virginia versus the Environmental Protection Agency and the consolidated cases. Mm see.
Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the court. In Section 111 of the Clean Air Act, Congress directed EPA to partner with the states to regulate on a source-specific level, which means identifying measures particular buildings can take to reduce their own emissions. The DC Circuit gave EPA much broader power, power to reshape the nation's energy sector, or most any other industry for that matter, by choosing which sources should exist at all and setting standards. standards to make it happen. No tools of statutory construction support that result. First, electricity generation is a pervasive and essential aspect of modern life and squarely within the state's traditional zone. Yet EPA can now regulate in ways that cost billions of dollars, affect thousands of businesses, and are designed to address an issue with worldwide effect.
This is major policy making power under any definition. And though respondents argue EPA can resolve these questions unless clearly forbidden, this court's precedents are clear that's backward. Unless Congress clearly authorizes it, Section one hundred eleven does not stretch so far. And Congress hasn't done so here. Second, the words Congress did use in the context where it placed them confirm Section one hundred eleven's traditional scope. Read together key statutory terms, like the requirement standards before individual sources and focused on their performance, show that Congress did not greenlight this transformative power. And finally, standing is no reason to avoid the merits. We're injured by a judgment that brings back to life a rule that hurts us and that takes off the books a rule that benefits us.
Respondents' arguments sound in mootness, and it's their burden to show that EPA's voluntary cessation and a stay are enough to end the case. They're not. We're asking for the classic appellate relief of undoing what the court below did, and this court has full power to give it. And the weighty issues at stake confirm that it should. In contrast to EPA's important but environmentally focused role, Congress and the states are able to weigh all of the competing factors and constituencies in play. The lower court was wrong to short circuit that process here and the court should reverse. I welcome the court's questions.
Uh you start your uh argument with the major questions doctrine. Do you need that to win?
We do not, Your Honor. We think that the text is clear. Uh the court can use any of the tools of statutory construction. It can focus on the particular words and context. But major questions and the clear and the federalism clear statement canon are also textual tools of construction and we think the court can and should use that as well.
So what is the difference between uh clear statement and uh major uh questions?
So there are multiple versions of the clear statement canons. Major Questions is one of them. The Federalism Canon is a different version of the clear statement canon. The clear statement part simply says what we assume would be in the statute, how clearly Congress would speak before courts are willing to find this agency power. So major questions is one version of the clear statement canon. So
what what factors would we take into account to determine which cannon or which approach we would use?
I think it's important to look at what the constitutional norms in question are. Canons like major questions are grounded in separation of powers. It's grounded in common sense presumptions about how legislators would operate. It's the words that we expect Congress would put in the statute. When this court deals with major questions, it is focused on the nature of the power at stake. here because there is transformative power that crosses industries and goes outside of EPA's core competency. This is this is the area where this court has been willing to apply the major questions canon before, and we argue that it should do so here.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the scope of EPA’s authority under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act?
0:00–14:38
2
How does the major‑questions doctrine apply to EPA’s climate‑change regulations?
14:38–29:23
3
What is the difference between “inside‑the‑fence” and “outside‑the‑fence” regulatory approaches?
29:23–43:54
4
Why do the petitioners claim they have standing and are not moot?
43:54–58:32
5
How do the Clean Power Plan and the ACE rule differ, and why does that matter?
58:32–1:14:45
6
What is EPA’s timeline for the next rulemaking and how could it affect the case?
1:14:45–1:33:17
7
How do state flexibility and emissions‑trading mechanisms factor into the dispute?
1:33:17–1:47:38
8
What relief are the petitioners seeking and why should the Court grant it?
1:47:38–2:03:02