Utah wins U.S. Supreme Court case against the EPA

Utah won a significant victory in our U.S. Supreme Court case against the Environmental Protection Agency.  

Today, the court ruled 8-0 in our favor in the case known as Oklahoma v. EPA. Our Solicitor General Stanford Purser and Assistant Attorney General Marina Thomas were instrumental parts of the legal team that successfully argued local courts should hear cases about local issues under the Clean Air Act.  

The case started after Utah challenged the Biden-era EPA over its rejection of Utah’s plan to comply with the Good Neighbor Rule, a regulation about states’ potential impact on each other’s air quality. The state had worked with the EPA to develop its plan to comply with the rule, yet the EPA still rejected the plan. Utah sued the EPA over this rejection because the agency’s denial of the plan was arbitrary – when the data is examined in proper context, Utah does not significantly contribute to any other state’s air quality.  

Oklahoma also challenged the EPA over the rejection of its plan.  

The question before the Supreme Court was whether these challenges to the EPA’s rejection of Utah and Oklahoma plans should be heard in the Tenth Circuit Court, the regional federal circuit court for both these states, or in the D.C. Circuit Court.  

The Supreme Court sided with Utah and Oklahoma in its ruling. This means further court proceedings on these challenges to the EPA’s rejection of Utah and Oklahoma plans will be heard in the Tenth Circuit Court, not the D.C. Circuit Court.  

“Utah had a victory at the United States Supreme Court today, with the court agreeing with Utah’s argument involving the Clean Air Act that local courts should handle local issues, and the federal government should collaborate with the states —not ignore their unique differences,” said Utah Attorney General Derek Brown. “I am also proud of Utah’s Solicitor General, Stan Purser, for his critical role on the legal team that helped secure this win. It was honor for me to attend the oral arguments on behalf of Utah for this case, supporting our state and Oklahoma in this victory.” 

AG Brown continued, “We are also grateful to the Trump Administration’s EPA for reconsidering its ruling that required litigation in the first place, and look forward to our continued partnership on behalf of Utah.”