Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has rejected a plea to block an EPA air pollution rule, reports The Hill.
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last year that the mercury and air toxics standards rule is illegal, Roberts unilaterally rejected twenty conservative states' request to block it, in a big win for the Obama administration.
Roberts acted swiftly, waiting less than a day after the EPA’s response brief to side with the Obama administration. He acted unilaterally, electing to reject the request himself rather than take it to the full court, which may have led to a 4-4 split following Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.
The court ruled last June that the EPA should have conducted a cost-benefit analysis on the regulation before it even decided to start writing it. The agency did so as part of the regulatory process, but the justices said that was not sufficient.
But the Supreme Court did not overturn the rule at the time, and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in December that the EPA could keep enforcing it.
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