The Biden administration is joining calls for the nation’s second most powerful appeals court to reconsider its surprise decision last month invalidating the White House’s power to craft National Environmental Policy Act regulations for federal agencies.
On Thursday, the administration asked for a full panel of active judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reassess its ruling that the White House Council on Environmental Quality did not have rulemaking authority.
CEQ’s NEPA regulations set standards for how federal agencies should comply with the landmark law.
In their rehearing petition, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Park Service said the court had “seriously erred” by ruling on CEQ’s authority when no parties in the case had raised the issue.
