The law of "not now": When agencies defer decisions

Georgetown Law Journal

Volumn 103, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 157-195

  Sunstein, Cass R ^a   Vermeule, Adrian ^a  

^a HARVARD LAW SCHOOL   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84908495625     PISSN: 00168092     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (129)

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2. Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706 (2012).
3. 5 U.S.C. § 706(1) (2012).
4. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 527-28 (2007).
5. Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55 (2004)
6. Heckler v. Chaney, 470 U.S. 821 (1985).
7. 549 U.S. at 534.
8. WildEarth Guardians v. EPA, 751 F.3d 649 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
9. WildEarth Guardians, 751 F.3d at 651
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12. Sharon Jacobs, The Administrative State's Passive Virtues, 66 ADMIN. L. REV. (forthcoming 2014)
13. Jody Freeman & Adrian Vermeule, Massachusetts v. EPA: From Politics to Expertise, 2007 SUP. CT. REV. 51.
14. Lisa Schultz Bressman, Judicial Review of Agency Inaction: An Arbitrariness Approach, 79 N.Y.U. L. REV. 1657 (2004).
15. We do not distinguish between executive agencies and "independent" agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Communications Commission. In our view, the analysis is the same for the two sets of agencies. We acknowledge that for those who emphasize the importance of continuing presidential control and the distinctive electoral accountability of the President, the analysis might be different. We spend some time on that control and accountability, but for our purposes here, and under existing doctrine, the differences between the two kinds of agencies do not much matter.
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24. This hypothetical example has evident similarities to the question raised in 2012 about whether the United States was required to cut off funds to Egypt on the ground that a military coup had occurred in that nation. We do not mean to express any view here on the Egypt question, which involves an assortment of factual and other complexities.
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38. 5 U.S.C. § 601 app. at 88-92 (2012).
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40. We are also concerned with the legality of decisions to defer even if judicial review is unavailable, but the principles governing judicial review of such decisions capture most of the relevant territory (with the qualification that the anti-abdication principle is broader than its feasible judicial enforcement, for reasons discussed below).
41. Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55, 62-63 (2004).
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56. Heckler, 470 U.S. at 832.
57. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 527 (2007)
58. Heckler, 470 U.S. at 833 n.4
59. Adams v. Richardson, 480 F.2d 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1973)
60. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. at 527-28.
61. 549 U.S. 497.
62. 549 U.S. at 505, 532-34.
63. Nat'l Customs Brokers & Forwarders Ass'n of Am. v. United States, 883 F.2d 93, 96 (D.C. Cir. 1989)).
64. Am. Horse Prot. Ass'n v. Lyng, 812 F.2d 1, 4 (D.C. Cir. 1987).
65. Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926)
66. Of course, this proposition would raise further questions. As a general rule, the EPA is highly unlikely to take a position on a question of international relations without consulting the Department of State. Would Massachusetts v. EPA have come out differently if EPA could refer to statements from that Department, endorsing its position or even indicating that the EPA was merely following it? Parenthetically, we note that the question of whether and how to regulate greenhouse gases is of course an exceedingly important one, and it is most unlikely that it did not receive Administration-wide attention.
67. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. at 534.
68. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. at 553-55 (Scalia, J., dissenting).
69. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. at 532-33.
70. WildEarth Guardians v. EPA, 751 F.3d 649, 651 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
71. Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926).
72. Biodiversity Legal Found. v. Badgley, 309 F.3d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir. 002)
73. Forest Guardians v. Babbitt, 174 F.3d 1178, 1193 (10th Cir. 1999)
74. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, 954 F. Supp. 2d 965, 970-71 (N.D. Cal. 2013).
75. Ctr. for Food Safety, 954 F. Supp. 2d at 970-71.
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78. WildEarth Guardians, 751 F.3d at 651.
79. SENDHIL MULLAINATHAN & ELDAR SHAFIR, SCARCITY: WHY HAVING TOO LITTLE MEANS SO MUCH 39-66 (2013)
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81. Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-189, §§ 2, 4, 122 Stat. 639, 639, 642
82. Brower v. Evans, 257 F.3d 1058, 1068-70 (9th Cir. 2001)
83. Cobell v. Norton, 240 F.3d 1081, 1095-97 (D.C. Cir. 2001)
84. Pub. Citizen Health Research Grp. v. Auchter, 702 F.2d 1150, 1153-54 & n.10 (D.C. Cir. 1983)
85. OFFICE OF INFO. & REGULATORY AFFAIRS, EXEC. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, INFORMING REGULATORY DECISIONS: 2003 REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS AND UNFUNDED MANDATES ON STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL ENTITIES 66-80 (2003), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/2003-cost-ben-final-rpt.pdf
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87. Expanding Coverage of Children, 78 Fed. Reg. 64,873 (Oct. 30, 2013) (to be codified at 5 C.F.R. pts. 890, 892, 894);
88. Incentives for Nondiscriminatory Wellness Programs in Group Health Plans, 78 Fed. Reg. 33,158 (June 3, 2013) (to be codified at 26 C.F.R. pt. 54, 29 C.F.R. pt. 2590, 45 C.F.R. pts. 146-47)
89. Exchange, Premium Stabilization Programs, and Market Standards, 78 Fed. Reg. 65,046 (Oct. 30, 2013) (to be codified at 45 C.F.R. pts. 144, 146, 147, 153, 155, 156).
90. WildEarth Guardians v. EPA, 751 F.3d 649, 651 (D.C. Cir. 2014)
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94. Exec. Order No. 13,563 § 1(b), 3 C.F.R. at 215.
95. 5 U.S.C. § 702 (2012)
96. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, 954 F. Supp. 2d 965, 971-72 (N.D. Cal. 2013).
97. 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A) (2012).
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99. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984).
100. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 552 (2007) (Scalia, J., dissenting).
101. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. at 533.
102. Envtl. Def. Fund v. Thomas, 870 F.2d 892, 894-95, 900 (2d Cir. 1989).
103. Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of the U.S. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 48 (1983).
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115. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010)
116. U.S. CONST. art. II, § 3.
117. The agency must of course comply with any statutory instructions relevant to the merits, including specification of relevant factors (or exclusion of irrelevant factors). We abstract from that separate question in order to focus on the decision to decide.
118. Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. EPA, 749 F.3d 1079 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
119. Cass R. Sunstein & Adrian Vermeule, Interpretation and Institutions, 101 MICH. L. REV. 885 (2003)
120. 870 F.2d 892 (2d Cir. 1989).
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125. 42 U.S.C. § 7409(d)(1) (2012).
126. Corrosion Proof Fittings v. EPA, 947 F.2d 1201 (5th Cir. 1991).
127. Exec. Order No. 12, 866 § 3(f), 3 C.F.R. 638, 641 (1994)
128. 5 U.S.C. § 601 app. at 89 (2012)
129. Kathryn A. Watts, Regulatory Moratoria, 61 DUKE L.J. 1883, 1885-86 (2012).