Supreme Court will not review District Court’s decision to vacate EPA SNAP rule

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to consider a request from attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia’s decision to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) rule. In a brief filed in late July, the attorneys general said the “D.C. Circuit’s ruling goes against the clear intentions of the law and has left significant uncertainty about what the EPA’s regulatory authority is in regard to the replacement of ozone-depleting chemicals, and as a result, the agency has abandoned enforcement efforts.”

The attorneys general also had hoped to eliminate state-by-state solutions that would prove especially burdensome for manufacturers. California continues to proceed with plans to enforce the SNAP requirements. Connecticut, Maryland and New York have announced plans to do the same (see article below).