Natural Resources Defense Council v. Mexichem Fluor, Inc.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court seeking review of the D.C. Circuit decision striking down key components of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rule prohibiting or restricting use of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as replacements for ozone-depleting substances due to the HFCs’ high global warming potential. NRDC had intervened to defend the rule in the D.C. Circuit. NRDC’s petition presented the question of “[w]hether EPA has authority under Section 612 to prohibit use of dangerous but non-ozone-depleting substitutes by any person, including by product manufacturers who began using such substitutes before EPA placed them on the prohibited list.” NRDC also argued that the D.C. Circuit majority’s interpretation was at odds with the statute and destroyed a “core Clean Air Act program.”