Supremes To Review Two Environmental Cases
 
June 1, 2000
 

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases of environmental significance during its next session.  First, in Browner v. American Trucking Association, Case No. 99-1257, EPA seeks review of a ruling by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which held that the EPA overstepped its authority in promulgating two air quality standards, a new standard for particulate matter 2.5 microns in size or smaller and a revised ozone standard.  The appellate court held that EPA had failed to adequately justify the technical and scientific basis for the particular levels set forth in the new standards.  The Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to set pollution limits for air quality standards that “accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge useful in indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on public health or welfare that might be expected....” The court held that by failing to properly articulate the scientific basis for the standards, EPA exceeded its delegated authority under the Clean Air Act.  The court remanded the standards to EPA for further justification last year.  The Supreme Court agreed to hear EPA’s appeal of the remand on May 22; on May 30, it also agreed to hear a cross-appeal by the American Trucking Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  The industry groups appealed those portions of the lower court decision holding that EPA did not have to consider costs of implementation when promulgating a standard.  A final decision in the case is expected in 2001.

In another case, on May 22, the Supreme Court agreed to consider a challenge to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ role in blocking construction of a landfill in Cook County, Illinois.  The Supreme Court agreed to clarify whether the Corps can regulate the use of land containing waters that are home to migrating birds.

The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, a consortium of 23 municipalities, decided to build a solid waste landfill on a site in northern Cook and Kane counties. The site had been a strip mine about 50 years earlier, and areas that once were gravel pits had become about 200 ponds used as seasonal nesting and breeding areas by a variety of migratory birds.

The Corps maintained that a dredge and fill permit is needed for the landfill because of a 1986 rule specifying that water used as migratory bird habitat is considered “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The Corps denied a permit for the landfill, and the Solid Waste Agency sued. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, stating that the regulation of migratory bird habitat falls under Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce because millions of people travel each year to observe and hunt migratory birds. Oral argument has not been set, but a decision is expected in Spring 2001. Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Case No. 99-1178.