EPA's bubble concept after Chevron v. NRDC: who is to guard the guards themselves

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Nat. Resour. Lawyer; (United States)

OSTI ID:5831218

Stukane, T J

In Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council in 1984 the Supreme Court upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations permitting existing industries to modify their plants without installing pollution control equipment so long as there is no net increase in the total amount of pollution emanating from those plants. This article reaches no conclusion about the wisdom of the Supreme Court's analysis; rather, it simply accepts the decision as inevitable under the current design of the Clean Air Act. Although the two-part design of ambient standards plus technology-based standards appears intuitively simple, the effective implementation of the strategy requires repeated congressional intervention resulting in an increasingly complex statute. The bubble concept is only one example of a route by which this statutory design can be weakened. It also highlights the existence of statutory gap that must now be addressed by Congress. While numerous writers have applauded the economic benefits of the market-based approaches to pollution control, such approaches are sound also because of their greater likelihood of success. The construction of some new sources of pollution may escape the installation of the latest pollution controls. The overall integrity of the program, however, will more effectively withstand challenge and achieve more environmental goals in the long term. 157 references.

• Research Organization: Grove, Jaskiewicz, Gillram and Cobert, Washington, DC
• OSTI ID: 5831218
• Journal Information: Nat. Resour. Lawyer; (United States), Journal Name: Nat. Resour. Lawyer; (United States) Vol. 17:4; ISSN NRLAD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
500600* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Regulations-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
CLEAN AIR ACT
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
LAWS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
POLLUTION LAWS
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
POLLUTION SOURCES
REGULATIONS
STATIONARY POLLUTANT SOURCES
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS