Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has rejected a motion to delay implementation of Obama era methane emission laws which limit allowed emissions from oil and gas drilling.
Court rejects Trump’s delay of EPA drilling pollution rule
BY TIMOTHY CAMA – 07/03/17 01:40 PM EDT
The Trump administration cannot delay an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule limiting methane pollution from oil and natural gas drilling, a federal court ruled Monday.
In an early court loss for President Trump’s aggressive agenda of environmental deregulation, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the EPA didn’t meet the requirements for a 90-day stay of the Obama administration’s methane rule.
The decision means the EPA must immediately start enforcing the standards.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s decision to delay enforcement of the provision was based on arguments that when the Obama administration wrote the rule, it violated procedures by not allowing stakeholders to comment on some parts of what became the final regulation. The agency used that reasoning to formally reconsider the rule and to pause enforcement.
But the court said the argument doesn’t withstand scrutiny.
…
The full ruling is available here.
I guess the Supreme Court will be working overtime this year.
Correction (EW): h/t commieBob District of Columbia Court of Appeals should be The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
As I recall, there has been and still is a question as to the Constitutionality of these rule makings. Now, if Congress had 90 day to approve the rule or it is a nullity, that would be a helluva lot better. The old Chevron rule is up for reconsideration; maybe, we will inch our way back to rationality.
Solution is simple — don’t fund the enforcement.
A first solution would be for Scott Pruitt to assign an office staff of 1 to enforce these regulations. That might slow things down a bit
If the EPA made the rule it can unmake the rule too. Of course the EPA and every other government agency that makes rules that haven’t been explicitly reviewed and approved by Congress and the President are violating the Constitution, but that’s another matter.