June 6, 2011
On behalf of nine states, the State of Texas has filed the opening brief in its challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tailpipe Rule, which attempts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. The brief explains that the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations violate the federal Clean Air Act and urges the court to strike down the unlawful Tailpipe Rule.
The States’ brief, which was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asserts that the EPA’s Tailpipe Rule is arbitrary and failed to comply with the Clean Air Act. EPA refused to consider the enormous costs that its regulations impose on businesses and consumers – despite provisions of the Clean Air Act that require the Administration to consider these costs. According to the States’ brief, the EPA also violated the Clean Air Act by exceeding its statutory authority when it issued the Tailpipe Rule. Under federal law, the EPA is only permitted to regulate air pollutants that pose a danger to human beings’ health and welfare. As the State previously argued in its May 23 brief challenging the EPA’s greenhouse gas Endangerment Finding, the Administration’s determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and welfare is both incorrect and not authorized by law.
Texas is currently challenging all six of the EPA’s unlawful greenhouse gas regulations in federal court.
Texas Files Challenge to EPA’s “Tailpipe Rule” Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions