Continental Resources, Inc. v. EPA

Two applications for immediate stay of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rule establishing emissions standards and guidelines for the oil and natural gas sector were submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts in August 2024. Petitions challenging the rule are pending in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied requests for a stay on July 9, 2024. One of the applications was filed by oil and gas companies and trade associations. The industry applicants characterized the final rule as “an authoritarian national command from EPA to the States and operators … that the States regulate, that violates the cooperative federalism embedded by Congress in Section 111 of the Clean Air Act.” They argued that the requirements impose significant irreparable harms, including “operational costs and barriers to continued operations” and irreversible investments and operational decisions.