Federal agencies are expected to have more flexibility in complying with the National Environmental Policy Act after an appeals court ruled this week that the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality can’t issue binding regulations.
The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Nov. 12 in Marin Audubon Society v. FAA that CEQ lacks authority because no language in statute states or suggests that Congress empowered it to act as a regulatory agency. Two judges on the three-judge panel ruled that CEQ is only an advisory agency but did not vacate any of the council’s regulations.
“The long-term ...