Professor Frank Comments on EPA Legal Battle for NY Times
Professor Richard Frank commented for the New York Times on the legal battle between the state of Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency is attempting to take over greenhouse gas permitting authority in the face of intransigence from the state, a move that Texas has contested in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Professor Frank stated that "in the long term, EPA is likely to win the legal battle." The Clean Air Act allows EPA to delegate enforcement to states, but the agency also has "the power to set the terms of that delegation, impose conditions, and always has the authority to revoke the delegation if it believes the state isn't meeting its enforcement obligations under federal law," Frank added.
Frank, a 1974 graduate of King Hall, recently was named as founding Director of the new California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.