Case Name: Whitman v. American Trucking Assn., Inc.
Citation: 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
Issue: Whether a section of the Clean Air Act delegates legislative power to the Administrator of the EPA (a violation of Article 1 of the Constitution).
Key Fact: The Act stated that “at five-year intervals” the EPA Administrator must review the standard and make revisions as may be appropriate.”
Procedural History: The Court of Appeals stated that the statute provided no “intelligible principle” to guide the agency’s exercise of authority. Because it failed to state “how much is too much”, the Court of Appeals stated that EPA’s interpretation violated the non-delegation doctrine.
Holding: The scope of discretion that the Act allows is well within the outer limits of the court’s non-delegation precedents. The discretion allows the EPA to adapt to new scientific knowledge regarding pollutants. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals.
Reasoning: A certain degree of discretion is needed in executive agencies.
The scope of discretion that the Act allows is well within the outer limits of the court’s non-delegation precedents. The discretion allows the EPA to adapt to new scientific knowledge regarding pollutants.