The Supreme Court on Monday denied the pending petitions for certiorari review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Grocery Manufacturers Association v. Environmental Protection Agency. This denial effectively puts an end to the efforts of the National Chicken Council and 16 other industry associations to obtain a court ruling invalidating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “E15” partial waiver decisions. A petition for certiorari is a document that a losing party files with the Supreme Court asking the Supreme Court to review the decision of a lower court
The petitioners were seventeen associations from the food-production, petroleum, and engine-products industries who challenged EPA’s decision to permit the use of E15, a fuel blend that includes 50 percent more ethanol than currently available gasoline, as transportation fuel in post-2000 light-duty motor vehicles.
The D.C. Circuit dismissed the petitioners’ challenge due to their supposed lack of “standing.” It concluded that the petitioners had not demonstrated a sufficient stake in the outcome of the litigation to warrant the court’s intervention. As a result, EPA’s decision has not been reviewed on the merits by any court, and it remains intact. And there are no further judicial barriers to the introduction of E15 into the market at this time.
The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari review comes as a surprise and a disappointment to all 17 associations who petitioned the Court to review this important case. This is particularly so in light of Judge Kavanaugh’s detailed and pointed dissent, which all but called on the Supreme Court to take the case up on review.
The denial is also surprising in light of the strong support by a wide variety of non-party “amicus curiae” filers who demonstrated the national importance of the case. They included the States of Alabama and Oklahoma, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the NFIB Small Business Legal Center, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Automobile Dealers Association, and Public Citizen.
The Court’s reason for denial is not known; the order is unaccompanied by any reasoning. Apparently despite our petition, despite the ample amicus support, and despite Judge Kavanaugh’s vocal dissent, the Court did not view the case as we all did – as one presenting important issue, clearly wrongly decided, that both contradicts binding Supreme Court authority and perpetuates a continued split between the courts of appeals across the country.
