WASHINGTON, Jan 30 - A federal court ruling on Friday concluded that the U.S. Department of Energy violated federal law when it created a Climate Working Group, a development that may put the Environmental Protection Agency’s pending rulemaking in jeopardy.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a judgment finding that the Trump administration’s establishment of the Climate Working Group - which was made up of five individuals identified as climate change skeptics - ran afoul of the law that governs federal advisory committees.
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Union of Concerned Scientists filed the lawsuit last year after the working group was convened without public meetings or formal notice, according to the complaint. Those plaintiffs allege the DOE drafted a report that was used to inform the EPA’s proposed rule to rescind the "endangerment finding," which serves as the legal foundation for climate-related regulations.
The DOE’s report was released on July 29, the same day the EPA formally proposed a rule that would eliminate the endangerment finding. The existence of the working group was not publicly disclosed at the time the department published its report, the plaintiffs said.
EDF senior attorney Erin Murphy reacted to the court’s decision, saying: "The federal court’s ruling is absolutely clear - the Trump Administration violated federal law by secretly convening a group tasked with developing a dangerously slanted report to use as the basis for attacking the Endangerment Finding."
The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The EPA’s effort to repeal the endangerment finding remains under final review at the White House. The rule was initially expected to be released late last year, according to filings and statements noted in the lawsuit.
Context and next steps
The judgment raises legal and procedural questions about the advisory process used to produce the DOE report and the extent to which that report influenced EPA rulemaking. Plaintiffs have urged the EPA to rescind its forthcoming final rule to repeal the endangerment finding on the basis that the DOE working group’s report improperly informed the agency’s action.