Overview

• The EPA’s July 29 proposal would overturn its 2009 greenhouse-gas endangerment finding—the legal foundation for vehicle and power-plant emission limits—with comments open until Sept. 15 and DOE feedback due Sept. 2.
• The plan relies heavily on a DOE report by a five-member Climate Working Group handpicked by Secretary Chris Wright, which critics accuse of cherry-picking evidence and misrepresenting research uncertainties.
• Scholars warn the rollback may breach the Information Quality Act, Federal Advisory Committee Act, Administrative Procedure Act and EPA advisory-board statutes, making protracted litigation likely.
• The EPA’s Science Advisory Board has gone unstaffed since January’s dismissal of members, leaving the agency without formal independent scientific review of the proposed rule.
• The Environmental Defense Fund and Union of Concerned Scientists sued in federal court, alleging the DOE report functioned as an unchartered advisory committee in violation of federal law.