Supreme Court Deference Case Poses Threat To CWA Jurisdiction Suits

摘要

A conservative legal group is urging the Supreme Court to use a pending case testing agencies' deference as a vehicle for significantly narrowing deference, which it says could help prevent EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers' Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdictional findings getting mere "rubber stamps" of approval from courts. In a recent amicus brief, the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) says that a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit decision in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. improperly deferred to an "opinion letter" authored by a Department of Education official. The letter said existing civil rights policies require accommodating transgender students in public schools' sex-specific facilities such as locker rooms and restrooms.