Global law firm Squire Patton Boggs filed an amicus brief in Farmer v. EPA on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In the lawsuit before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a group of farmers, ranchers, environmental organizations, and local governments sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency arguing that the EPA failed to regulate dangerous “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in sewage sludge used on farmland as fertilizer.
In the brief, the U.S. Chamber urged the D.C. Circuit to hold that a statutory provision of the Clean Water Act requiring an agency to review its regulations for the purpose of taking future regulatory actions does not create a mandatory duty to regulate. The U.S. Chamber also argued that the appellants’ position was tantamount to rulemaking via litigation and would disrupt bedrock principles of judicial review of agency inaction.
Keith Bradley (partner, Denver) and Kathryn M. Brown (senior associate, Columbus) served as outside counsel. The brief is available here.
