West Virginia v. EPA

Summary

Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, held that the state petitioners had standing, that EPA's announced nonenforcement of the Clean Power Plan did not moot the dispute, and that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act did not authorize the Plan's generation-shifting approach to setting emissions caps. Applying the major questions doctrine, the Court required clear congressional authorization for this consequential expansion of EPA's authority and found none. It reversed the D.C. Circuit and remanded without deciding whether all permissible emission-reduction systems must operate at individual sources. Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justice Alito, concurred to explain the doctrine's constitutional foundations and application. Justice Kagan, joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor, dissented, arguing that the statutory text authorized generation shifting and that the majority improperly displaced Congress's broad delegation to EPA.