Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

North Dakota v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 19-1140, 19-1165, 19-1166, 19-1173, 19-1175, 19-1176, 19-1177, 19-1179, 19-1185, 19-1186, 19-1187, 19-1188 · judgment January 19, 2021


Decided · June 30, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a D.C. Circuit decision below and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Question presented

Section lll(d) of the Clean Air Act ("CAA"), 42 U.S.C. § 7411(d), governs air emissions from stationary sources of air pollutants. Section 11 l(d) explicitly requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to develop guidelines for the States to create their own Section lll(d) plans to establish "standards of performance" for controlling air emissions from any individual "existing source." Section lll(d)(l) further provides that EPA guidelines "shall permit" States, in developing their plans, to "take into consideration, among other factors, the remaining useful life of the existing source to which such standard applies." The question presented is: Can EPA promulgate regulations for existing stationary sources that require States to apply binding nationwide "performance standards" at a generation-sector-wide level, instead of at the individual source level, and can those regulations deprive States of all implementation and decision making power in creating their Section lll(d) plans? Consolidated with 20-1530, 20-1531, and 20-1778 and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Paul Martin Seby
Greenberg Traurig LLP

For respondent
Beth Susan Brinkmann
Covington & Burling LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 4 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Related
Vide, 20-1530, 20-1531, 20-1778

Argument & decision

Argued February 28, 2022 — Lindsay S. See · Jacob M. Roth · Elizabeth B. Prelogar · Beth S. Br.... Audio and transcript

Decided June 30, 2022. Opinion by Roberts, C.J..

Proceedings

  1. Aug 01 2022
    JUDGMENT ISSUED
  2. Jun 30 2022
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Alito, J., joined. Kagan, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Breyer and Sotomayor, JJ., joined. VIDED.
  3. Feb 28 2022
    Argued. For state petitioners: Lindsay S. See, Solicitor General, Charleston, W. Va. For private petitioners: Jacob M. Roth, Washington, D. C. For federal respondents: Elizabeth B. Prelogar, Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For power company respondents: Beth S. Brinkmann, Washington, D. C. VIDED.
  4. Jan 18 2022
    CIRCULATED
  5. Dec 23 2021
    The record from the U.S.C.A. District of Columbia Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer. The oral argument transcript has been electronically filed.
  6. Dec 21 2021
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. District of Columbia Circuit.
  7. Dec 17 2021
    ARGUMENT SET FOR Monday, February 28, 2022. VIDED.
  8. Nov 04 2021
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 20-1530. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 20-1530. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  9. Oct 29 2021
    Petition GRANTED. The petitions for writs of certiorari in No. 20-1530 and No. 20-1531 are granted. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 20-1778 is granted limited to Question 2 presented by the petition. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
  10. Oct 29 2021
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Lignite Energy Council GRANTED.
  11. Oct 25 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/29/2021.
  12. Oct 12 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/15/2021.
  13. Oct 04 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/8/2021.
  14. Aug 25 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
  15. Aug 23 2021
    Reply of petitioner State of North Dakota filed. (Distributed)
  16. Aug 05 2021
    Brief of respondents Consolidated Edison, Inc., Exelon Corporation, National Grid USA, New York Power Authority, Power Companies Climate Coalition, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District in opposition filed. VIDED.
  17. Aug 05 2021
    Brief of respondents Non-Governmental Organization and Trade Association Respondents in opposition filed. VIDED.
  18. Aug 05 2021
    Brief of respondents Federal respondents in opposition filed. VIDED.
  19. Aug 05 2021
    Brief of respondents States and Municipalities in opposition filed. VIDED.
  20. Jul 23 2021
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Lignite Energy Council.
  21. Jul 22 2021
    Brief amici curiae of South Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc., et al. filed.
  22. Jul 16 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 5, 2021, for all respondents.
  23. Jul 15 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 23, 2021 to August 5, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  24. Jun 28 2021
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, State of North Dakota
  25. Jun 18 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 23, 2021)