What does AMC mean to you? While the Appalachian Mountain Club was created in 1876 to explore and protect the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it’s grown over its 148-year history to encompass conservation and recreation experiences, science, and policy from Maine to Virginia.
Federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) advance scientific research, protect our air and water, conserve land, and create recreation opportunities across the nation. From the inception of these agencies, AMC has advocated to make sure that our region benefits from their work. AMC’s members, volunteers, and staff work and play on public lands that are managed by federal agencies like the USFS and NPS. We count on clean air and clean water for our outdoor experiences.
There’s a lot of political news happening this summer, and it can be hard to keep up with what’s important to you. Below we break down three important Supreme Court decisions that will affect you and the issues AMC works on: Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency; Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo; and Corner Post Incorporated v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency: Halts EPA rule to reduce interstate smog pollution
Smog is a dangerous air pollutant composed mainly of ground-level ozone. It impacts our ability to breathe and contributes to chronic health effects like heart and lung disease. Smog comes from burning fossil fuels and, like all air pollution, does not stay in one place; it moves between states.
AMC has been working to reduce the movement of unhealthy air across states in our region for decades, because we’re committed to protecting critical landscapes for the wellbeing of people and the outdoors. That’s why AMC joined a lawsuit led by Earthjustice to reduce industrial smog pollution from Maine to Virginia. The result of this suit was the EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan, which required power plants and other industrial pollution sources in 23 upwind states to reduce their smog-causing emissions.
Challengers of the Good Neighbor Rule, including industrial polluters and their allies, quickly asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the EPA’s plan in Ohio v. EPA. In early 2024 the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the challengers, temporarily staying the Good Neighbor Plan. This allows for smog emissions to persist while industry and other polluters continue to fight to remove the regulation altogether.
The EPA estimates that full implementation of the Good Neighbor Plan would prevent over 1,300 premature deaths and millions of asthma cases in the first year alone. AMC, working with Earthjustice, will fight just as hard to keep this rule moving and reduce unhealthy air quality in our region. You can help advance environmental protections like the Good Neighbor Plan by voting to support the outdoors.
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo: Removes power of scientists to interpret regulations (and gives it to the courts)
AMC works closely with federal agencies to conserve and provide high-quality recreational experiences on public lands. After Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, executive branch agencies will likely have greater difficulty regulating pollutants in our environment.
Since 1984, when the Supreme Court wrote the landmark decision Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, courts have deferred to the expertise of federal officials when interpreting legislation from Congress. Under the Chevron doctrine, if a statute is ambiguous, a court was required to uphold an agency’s reasonable interpretation of the statute.
In June 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the landmark Chevron ruling. Overturning the Chevron doctrine is a transfer of critical decision-making authority from federal agencies, like the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, that use research to protect our clean air and water, to federal judges, who have no such scientific knowledge and depend on arguments for their understanding and interpretation.
AMC and other supporters of environmental protections have relied on the Chevron doctrine to defend federal agencies’ interpretation of critical environmental regulations, like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. For decades, AMC has been using the Clean Air Act to reduce regional pollution by defending the EPA’s regulations when challenged in courts. Since 2001, the views from the summit of Mount Washington have increased by 30 miles, in part, because of lawsuits brought by AMC and other environmental groups to limit emissions.
Corner Post Inc v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Removes statute of limitations on challenging an agency rule
Just a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the Chevron deference to agency expertise, it voted in this 6-3 decision to remove the time limit for private companies making challenges to long settled agency rules and regulations.
In Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the court found that the time limit for challenging an agency action begins when a plaintiff suffers harm from the rule, even when the plaintiff did not exist prior to the adoption of the rule.
Previously when an agency released a new regulation, parties had six years to challenge it. After that the regulation was considered settled and its protections in place. The Corner Post decision allows for a plaintiff to challenge a rule when it begins to affect them – the regulation can be older than six years, but if a newly created company is affected by the regulation, they can sue at that point in time to reverse the rule. It’s anticipated that this ruling will significantly increase the number of challenges to environmental regulations because newly formed companies can now sue to block long-settled agency actions.
Bedrock environmental regulations like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act have drastically improved environmental quality throughout this country. Federal agencies like the EPA write environmental regulations to preserve and protect our environment based on laws passed by Congress and the most up-to-date scientific research. Now the Supreme Court’s Corner Post ruling has opened the door to challenging regulations written according to the best available scientific research.
Now more than ever, AMC and our allies on both sides of the aisle in Congress must work together to promote quality scientific research in policymaking.
What Next?
Sept. 20, 2019. Boston, Massachusetts– Global Climate Strike. Photo by Paula Champagne.
With the Chevron and Corner Post decisions, we expect to see more court cases challenging administrative agency rules and decisions. Longstanding and formerly settled regulations that protect air, water, and land, such as the Clean Air Act of 1970, can now be challenged in new ways.
If you breathe air, drink water, and are interested in conservation and outdoor recreation, these Supreme Court decisions will have an impact on your day-to-day life. Implementing smog restrictions contributes to healthy air for everyone, but after this summer’s Supreme Court decisions, we don’t know if the next Supreme Court case will lead to the dismantling of long-standing environmental protections.
These court decisions can feel overwhelming. However, there is something you can do if you wish to influence how future decisions about the environment are made – VOTE!
Voting is an act of civic engagement available to anybody 18+ in the United States Civic engagement strengthens democracy, which relies upon citizen participation. Voting not only selects our elected officials but holds them accountable and influences policy decisions that impact our lives.
Elections present an opportunity to act for people and the outdoors, so use AMC’s voter education tool to make sure you are registered to vote, learn about the candidates on your ballots position on issues that affect people and the outdoors, and make a plan to vote this November.