The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the EPA's powers to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
The high court said federal agencies need explicit authorization from Congress to decide issues of major economic and political significance.
Chief Justice Roberts said Congress never gave the EPA the authority to change the methods a power plant uses-regulations known as "generation shifting" requirements.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, hailed the ruling as significant
"Today, the Supreme Court has taken a major step to restore representative government and require legislators, not bureaucrats, to make the major policy decisions affecting the lives of Americans."
The decision is a warning to regulatory agencies that they should be wary of interpreting old laws to give them broad new powers
The Supreme Court decision raises broader questions about how far the regulatory authority of federal agencies extends.
For half a century, the Clean Air Act has directed the EPA to regulate stationary sources of air pollution that endanger "public health or welfare."
The Obama-era Clean Power Plan extended that regulatory reach beyond the physical premises of a power plant to allow off-site methods to mitigate pollution.
The Trump administration in 2019 overturned the plan, replacing it with industry-friendly rules allowing older power plants to continue operating.
Background
Presidents from both parties have increasingly governed by executive order when their agendas are stalled in Congress, often giving regulators vast power over swaths of the economy
Many conservative lawyers have criticized this expansion of regulatory power, saying it isn't consistent with the "separation of powers" framework in the Constitution
Some liberals have defended the shift toward administrative governance, saying Congress can and should delegate authority to agencies with more expertise
https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-limits-environmental-protection-agencys-authority-11656598034
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