{"ID":63726,"name":"Oklahoma v. 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In February 2023, the EPA issued a final rule disapproving the plans submitted by 21 states, including Oklahoma and Utah, after evaluating them using a four-step framework designed to address interstate pollution. Oklahoma and Utah, along with various industry groups, challenged the EPA\u2019s disapproval of their plans in their respective regional circuit courts. The EPA responded by moving to transfer these cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, arguing that because the disapprovals were published together in a single Federal Register notice and used a consistent analytical approach, they must be reviewed by the D.C. Circuit rather than regional courts.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit agreed with the EPA that the challenged rule is nationally applicable, so it granted the EPA\u2019s motions to transfer the petitions to the D.C. Circuit.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDoes the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia have exclusive jurisdiction to review an Environmental Protection Agency action that affects only one state or region, simply because the EPA published that action alongside actions affecting other states in a single Federal Register notice?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Clean Air Act requires that EPA state implementation plan (SIP) disapprovals be reviewed in regional circuit courts rather than the D.C. Circuit when they are \u0022locally or regionally applicable\u0022 actions not based on determinations of nationwide scope or effect. Justice Clarence Thomas authored the 6-2 majority opinion of the Court.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Court applied a two-step framework established in EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining to determine proper venue under the Clean Air Act\u2019s venue provision. First, courts must identify the relevant EPA \u201caction\u201d and determine whether it is \u201cnationally applicable\u201d or \u201clocally or regionally applicable.\u201d An \u201caction\u201d under the statute means a particular exercise of EPA authority undertaken pursuant to a particular Clean Air Act provision, determined by reference to the underlying statutory provision rather than how EPA presents its decision. Here, EPA\u2019s disapprovals of Oklahoma\u2019s and Utah\u2019s state implementation plans constitute separate \u201cactions\u201d because the Clean Air Act treats individual SIP approvals and disapprovals as discrete actions under Section 7410. Each SIP disapproval applies only to the specific state that proposed the plan, making them \u201clocally or regionally applicable\u201d actions\u2014the prototypical example of such actions under the statute.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the SIP disapprovals are locally or regionally applicable, the Court proceeded to the second step: determining whether the \u201cnationwide scope or effect\u201d exception applies to require D.C. Circuit review. This exception requires that EPA\u2019s action be \u201cbased on a determination of nationwide scope or effect\u201d and that EPA find and publish this basis. Although EPA made the required finding, the Court held that EPA\u2019s disapprovals were not actually based on determinations of nationwide scope or effect. The exception applies only when \u201ca justification of nationwide breadth is the primary explanation for and driver of EPA\u2019s action.\u201d Here, EPA\u2019s disapprovals resulted from predominantly fact-intensive, state-specific analysis of each SIP\u2019s contents, producing unique lists of deficiencies for each state. The four nationwide determinations EPA cited\u2014including use of updated modeling and a 1% contribution threshold\u2014were merely analytical tools that aided EPA\u2019s review rather than primary drivers of the disapprovals.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Neil Gorsuch authored a concurring opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, agreeing with the judgment but following a different analytical path as explained in their dissenting opinion in a companion case, Environmental Protection Agency v. 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