High Court to Hear EPA Pollution Case

The Environmental Protection Agency and American Trucking Associations will face off in the U.S. Supreme Court on how air pollution standards are set.

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The ruling could have enormous implications – from billions of dollars in annual compliance costs for how the Department of Labor determines workplace standards in lessening job-related injuries to how EPA calculates public health baselines.

"These agencies cannot act with unbridled discretion on setting standards that are unconstitutional," said Robin S. Conrad, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's National Chamber Litigation Center in Washington, D.C.

Her organization has joined ATA in the action and favors the high court review that was announced May 22.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, which joined ATA in the 1997 lawsuit, said it was incredulous in how the numbers regarding particulate matter were determined.

A specific date to hear arguments should come when the Supreme Court nears its fall term on Oct. 1. The justices then would consider the case of an EPA appeal regarding a decision by the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia.

For the full story, see the May 29 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.