In the Courts

摘要

Natural Resources Defense Council v. Wheeler, No. 18-1172, 50 ELR 20082 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 7, 2020). The D.C. Circuit vacated a 2018 EPA rule that instituted a complete vacatur of its 2015 rule blocking the use of hydrofluorocarbons as replacements for ozone-depleting substances. An environmental group argued the 2018 rule was invalid because it was a legislative rule and was thus improperly promulgated without the required notice-and-comment procedures. The court agreed, finding that because the 2018 rule had the effect of amending the 2015 rule, which was undisputedly a legislative rule, the 2018 rule was also a legislative rule subject to notice-and-comment obligations; and thus held that the Agency improperly promulgated the rule without abiding by those obligations. It therefore vacated, 2-1, the 2018 rule and remanded to EPA for further proceedings.