A federal court ruled Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency is required to enforce a methane emissions rule previously implemented by former President Barack Obama's administration.
The 9-to-2 ruling from the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit followed an earlier July 3 ruling, CNN reported. The ruling is a win for environmentalists who opposed the EPA's efforts to delay the Obama-era rule's enforcement.
"Today's issuance of the mandate by the full D.C. Circuit protects families and communities across America under clean air safeguards that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sought to unlawfully tear down," said Peter Zalzal, lead attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.
The ruling maintained the previous 2-to-1 decision, which determined the EPA broke the law when it made plans to delay the rule's enforcement.
The judges in the July 3 ruling said that the EPA had the right to reverse the regulations by going through the rule-making process, but not to simply press pause, the New York Times reported.
"EPA's stay, in other words, is essentially an order delaying the rule's effective date, and this court has held that such orders are tantamount to amending or revoking a rule," wrote Judges David Tatel and Robert Wilkins.
The Obama-era rule was part of the administration's second-term climate change agenda, and was enacted to restrict methane emissions from new oil and gas wells.
Methane is a greenhouse gas—one that can trap heat in the atmosphere—and is therefore relevant in the climate change debate. Methane is also the main component of natural gas. Therefore, some environmentalists have concerns over potential methane leaks that could occur during the natural gas extraction and processing. They argue that the need for strict regulations on the oil and natural gas drilling industry is obvious given the potential for harm.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is less convinced of the regulation's positive impacts. Pruitt announced in April that he would extend the deadline for companies to comply with the rule. Meanwhile, the agency would reevaluate the regulations and review their impact.
Pruitt agues that some of the Obama-era regulations unnecessarily restrict economic growth. The rollback of regulations is part of the EPA's "Back-to-Basics Agenda," which includes three areas of focus: Protecting the environment, engaging with partners, and enforcing sensible regulations for economic growth.
https://twitter.com/EPAScottPruitt/status/853956297317908481
This is not the first pushback Pruitt has received from environmentalists or Obama administration officials.
President Donald Trump's proposed budget, revealed in May, reduced EPA funding by 31 percent. The cuts were criticized by Democrats, and some disgruntled EPA officials. Elizabeth Sutherland, director of the Office of Science and Technology in EPA's Office of Water, claimed Monday to be quitting on principle over her disagreement with Trump's budget. As it turns out, the senior official was also eligible for retirement.
The Trump budget was supported by EPA leadership, who said said it respected the American taxpayer and would save $1 billion by eliminating roughly 50 duplicative programs.
In light of Monday's ruling, the EPA is expected to continue working through the regulatory process to delay the rule's implementation.