The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with enforcement of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other federal environmental statutes. When reviewing the EPA’s final regulatory actions, the D.C. Circuit regularly grapples with complex statutory, scientific, and technical issues.
For example, that Court has been called upon to decide whether, consistent with the requirements of those statutes, the EPA may employ “cost-benefit” analysis when determining what emission levels are “safe,” or what constitutes an “adequate margin of safety.”
Agency decisions likewise are scrutinized to ensure that the agency has considered the relevant evidence and properly supported its decision. Judicial review also ensures that the agency’s actions are consistent with the substantive and procedural requirements Congress has imposed by law.
