Northwest Natural Gas v. Environmental Quality Commission

The Oregon Court of Appeals invalidated the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission’s (EQC’s) rules establishing the Climate Protection Program, which created a “cap and reduce” program for distribution of fossil fuels and required certain stationary sources to limit industrial process emissions. The court found that EQC did not comply—or even substantially comply—with “heightened” disclosure requirements for notices of proposed rulemakings that apply to sources subject to Title V operating permits under the federal Clean Air Act. The court found that EQC failed to provide in the notice of proposed rulemaking the required written explanation of any alternatives considered and the reasons those alternatives were not pursued.

Twelve businesses and trade groups filed a lawsuit in the Oregon Court of Appeals challenging the Climate Protection Program rules approved by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission in December 2021 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels and natural gas. The Albany Democrat-Herald reported that the petition alleges that the rules “will have a profound and unprecedented impact on everyday life in Oregon” because business and consumer use of the fuels is central to Oregon’s economy, and that a representative of the Oregon Farm Bureau, one of the plaintiffs, contended that the Department of Environmental Quality exceeded its statutory authority when it enacted the rules. Three utilities also filed a lawsuit challenging the rules, as did the Western States Petroleum Association.