Oklahoma 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 application was submitted by 23 states and the Arizona Legislature. The states’ application contended that EPA had “attempted to conscript the backwater of Section 111(d)” to impose “presumptive” national standards of performance for states that do not meet an “unrealistic” two-year timeframe to establish their own standards. The states seek a stay limited to the Section 111(d) portion of the rule, and the industry applicants seek a stay of the entire final rule.