Description: Challenge to the U.S. Department of Energy's failure to publish final energy efficiency standards.
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Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Perry
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/10/2019 Opinion Download District court order directing publication affirmed and stay on order lifted. Ninth Circuit Affirmed Order Directing Department of Energy to Publish Obama-Era Energy Conservation Standards. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a district court that a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regulation imposed a non-discretionary duty on DOE to publish four energy conservation standards approved by DOE at the end of the Obama administration. The Ninth Circuit therefore lifted its stay on the district court’s order directing DOE to publish the standards in the Federal Register. The standards at issue covered portable air conditioners, commercial packaged boilers, uninterruptible power supplies, and air compressors. 05/25/2018 Brief Download Brief filed by appellants. 04/11/2018 Order Download Emergency motions for stay granted. Ninth Circuit Stayed District Court Order Requiring Publication of Energy Conservation Rules. On April 11, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted emergency motions to stay a district court order requiring the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to publish final energy conservation rules for portable air conditioners, air compressors, commercial packaged boilers, and uninterruptible power supplies in the Federal Register. DOE and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute filed the appeals of the district court order, which held that DOE had a non-discretionary duty under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to publish the standards, which DOE adopted in December 2016. The Ninth Circuit also sua sponte expedited the proceedings in the appeals. 04/06/2018 Reply Download Reply submitted by defendants-appellants in support of motion for stay pending appeal. 03/30/2018 Opposition Download States filed opposition to Department of Energy emergency motion for stay. 03/30/2018 Opposition Download Environmental and consumer groups filed opposition to Department of Energy emergency motion for stay. 03/20/2018 Motion Download Emergency motion for stay pending appeal filed by Department of Energy. -
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Perry
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/06/2018 Reply Download Reply filed by ACHRI in support of stay pending appeal. 04/05/2018 Opposition Download Opposition to internvenor-defendant's emergency motion for stay pending appeal filed by non-profit groups. 04/05/2018 Opposition Download Opposition to defendant-intervenor's motion for stay pending appeal filed by states. 03/30/2018 Motion Download Emergency motion for stay pending appeal filed by Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute. -
Natural Resources Defense Council v. Perry
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 03/30/2018 Order Download Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute motion for stay denied. The district court denied the stay motions on March 13 (DOE) and March 30 (AHRI). DOE must submit the regulations for publication by April 10. 03/26/2018 Opposition Download States filed opposition to Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute motion for stay. The plaintiffs—environmental and consumer groups and states—argued that delaying the emissions reductions that would result from the implementation of the standards would harm the plaintiffs and the public. 03/26/2018 Opposition Download Citizen plaintiffs filed opposition to Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute motion for stay. 03/20/2018 Motion Download Administrative motion for stay filed by Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute. 03/13/2018 Order Download Department of Energy's motion for stay denied. 03/06/2018 Motion Download Administrative motion for stay filed. DOE and AHRI asked the district court to stay the order pending appeal, arguing that manufacturers would be harmed by having to incur costs to comply with the standards, and that temporarily delaying the regulations would cause the plaintiffs minimal harm. 03/06/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by Department of Energy. 02/15/2018 Order Download Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment granted. California Federal Court Ordered Publication of Obama-Era Energy Conservation Standards in Federal Register. The federal district court for the Northern District of California ordered the U.S. Department of Energy to publish energy conservation standards adopted in December 2016 that had never taken effect because DOE failed to publish them in the Federal Register. The standards are for portable air conditioners, air compressors, commercial packaged boilers, and uninterruptible power supplies. DOE estimated that the standards would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 99 million metric tons and save consumers and businesses $8.4 billion over a 30-year period. The court found that DOE’s failure to publish the standards violated its non-discretionary duty under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to publish an energy standard in the Federal Register at the end of an error-correction process specified in the regulations. The court rejected the argument the regulations preserved “free-standing authority” for DOE to continue to assess, modify, or withdraw energy standards or created only a discretionary obligation. 12/22/2017 Reply Download Reply in support of summary judgment filed by government plaintiffs. 12/21/2017 Reply Download Reply in support of summary judgment filed by citizen plaintiffs. 12/01/2017 Reply Download Reply in support of motion to dismiss and opposition to motions for summary judgment filed by defendants. 12/01/2017 Reply Download Reply in support of motion to dismiss and opposition to motions for summary judgment filed by defendant-intervenor. 10/27/2017 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Motion for summary judgment and opposition to motions to dismiss filed by government plaintiffs. 10/27/2017 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Motion for summary judgment and opposition to motions to dismiss filed by citizen plaintiffs. 09/29/2017 Motion to Dismiss Download Motion to dismiss filed by defendant-intervenor. 09/22/2017 Motion to Dismiss Download Motion to dismiss filed by defendants. 09/08/2017 Complaint Download Consolidated complaint filed. 08/25/2017 Order Download Order issued granting Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute's motion to intervene and consolidating cases. 06/13/2017 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Environmental Groups Filed Lawsuit Challenging Department of Energy’s Failure to Publish Energy Efficiency Standard. NRDC, Sierra Club, and Consumer Federation of America filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Northern District of New York challenging the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) failure to publish final energy efficiency standards for certain categories of consumer and industrial equipment. The environmental and consumer groups asserted that DOE had violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Federal Register Act by failing to submit the standards for publication in the Federal Register and had failed to meet statutory deadlines for issuing standards for uninterruptible power supplies and walk-in coolers and freezers. The relief sought by the plaintiffs included an order compelling DOE to send the new standards to the Office of Federal Register for immediate publication. -
California v. Perry
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/13/2017 Complaint Download Complaint filed. States and New York City Filed Lawsuit Challenging Department of Energy’s Failure to Publish Energy Efficiency Standards. Eleven states and New York City filed a complaint in the federal district court for the Northern District of California challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) failure to publish final energy efficiency standards for five categories of appliances and industrial equipment: portable air conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies, air compressors, walk-in coolers and freezers, and commercial packaged boilers. The states and New York City said that DOE’s failure to publish the final standards “directly harms Plaintiffs’ interests by adversely impacting the environment, consumers, economies, public health, natural resources, energy efficiency strategies, and climate change reduction goals of each Plaintiff.” They alleged that the standards could reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 26 million metric tons and save $24 billion over 30 years. The state-New York City plaintiffs contended that DOE had violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) by failing to take required non-discretionary actions related to the standards and by failing to meet deadlines prescribed by EPCA. They also asserted that DOE had violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Federal Register Act by failing to timely publish the standards.