A group that last month lost an effort to strike down an EPA rule governing the phase-down of potent heat-trapping chemicals through a cap-and-trade program is asking a federal appeals court for a redo.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents a company that participates in refrigerant aftermarkets, on Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for an “en banc” hearing at which the court’s entire bench would reconsider the decision by a three-judge panel.
The trio ruled in August that EPA’s 2024 framework rule establishing allowances related to companies’ production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons did not violate the Constitution and was in line with procedural law.
But the New Civil Liberties Alliance argues on behalf of its client, Choice Refrigerants, that the panel’s decision contradicts recent Supreme Court rulings that the alliance won, including Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless Inc. v. Department of Commerce. Those decisions held that courts should no longer defer to federal agencies’ reading of ambiguous laws under what is known as Chevron deference.
