Conservation groups are calling for a federal appeals court to reconsider its “demonstrably dangerous” ruling invalidating the power of the White House to craft National Environmental Policy Act regulations.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision last month found for the first time that the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacked the authority to direct federal agencies on NEPA compliance. The ruling came as a surprise since none of the parties in the case had raised the issue of CEQ’s regulatory power before the three-judge panel.
Court watchers have warned the decision could undercut the office’s NEPA reviews, or at least open the door to new, more direct challenges to CEQ’s authority.
“This Court should grant rehearing. Doing so would allow the full Court to carefully consider the proper approach in this case before such a consequential, outlier opinion hardens into the law of this Circuit,” the Marin Audubon Society and other groups told the court in a filing Wednesday.
