Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to the Federal Implementation Plan EPA promulgated after finding that Arizona's regional haze State Implementation Plan was inadequate. I think that the result is both correct and unsurprising.
However, one part of the opinion – a recitation of black-letter law – caught my eye. In discussing the standard of review, the court noted that the arbitrary and capricious standard is "highly deferential." No surprise there. It also noted that courts are particularly deferential when reviewing agency scientific determinations. Also no surprise.
And yet....
What happens if EPA eliminates all of its climate science expertise, and then eliminates the Endangerment Finding? Certainly, a court could still recite the traditional level of deference, but then note that "deference is not abdication" and rule that EPA's decision must be reversed even under the deferential threshold.
And yet....
What happens if the Trump administration repeatedly makes regulatory decisions based on a "scientific" viewpoint that is so broadly rejected by the scientific community that "scientific" must be put in quotation marks? Might courts at some point conclude that EPA has forfeited the deference normally given to agency scientific decisions?
Just asking. It's purely a hypothetical, of course.
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