EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Ends ‘Abusive’ Obama ‘Sue & Settle’ Policy

Breitbart ^ | 10/16/2017 | Sean Moran

[RightGeek]

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt ended the agency’s “sue and settle” policy Monday, criticizing “regulation through litigation” as wrong and “abusive.”

“The days of regulation through litigation are over,” said Administrator Pruitt. “We will no longer go behind closed doors and use consent decrees and settlement agreements to resolve lawsuits filed against the Agency by special interest groups where doing so would circumvent the regulatory process set forth by Congress. Additionally, gone are the days of routinely paying tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees to these groups with which we swiftly settle.”

Under previous administrations, particularly the Obama administration, special interest environmental groups such as the Sierra Club used lawsuits to force the EPA and other federal agencies to issue regulations that advance their climate change agenda. Those groups would sue the EPA and ask the court to compel the agency to enact new environmental regulations.

Critics say the “sue and settle” policy amounts to regulation through litigation, which allowed former EPA administrations to skirt around the agency’s limited rulemaking authority.

[SNIP]

[RightGeek]

The usual suspects have their knickers is a twist over this.

Paging the Boo Hoo girl

[Chickensoup]

WOW! Stopping leftist Payola!!

WINNING!

[Buckeye McFrog]

Lots of very sad lawyers today.

[caligatrux]

This might not get a lot of attention, but this is actually a really big deal. A lot of money was paid out to a lot of special interests using this technique. I’m actually pretty amazed that they are trying to stop it.

[BitWielder1]

Good.
EPA was in cahoots with environmental activists and encouraged them to sue.
I'm glad this scam is over.
Wonder if it's possible to overturn some of the past "settlements" where both parties were in fact in agreement all along.

[FatherofFive]

“The days of regulation through litigation are over,” said Administrator Pruitt.

Glad the adults are in charge

[shotgun]

So how do you stop it? These groups will continue to sue and activist judges will continue to rule in their favor. Is the EPA going to ignore court orders?

Sadly, I think we are too far down the road and this will have no effect.

[gibsonguy]

Pruitt is far and away Trump’s best pick he almost makes up for the disasterious Sessions..almost.

[dsrtsage]

This kind of stuff is the real reason Trump is universally despised. He is a mortal threat to too many peoples gravy trains

[robroys woman]

It also sounds like an effective money laundering scheme.

e.g. The Sierra Club sues the EPA, the EPA rep is a Sierra Club stooge and settles with the Sierra Club for a few hundred thousand, padding the Sierra Club’s coffers.

[robroys woman]

I completely agree. If we had a worthwhile press, this sort of thing would have been reported on for what it is.

[Mr Rogers]

"Is the EPA going to ignore court orders?"

Appeal, or go back to Congress and get a law written. Don't just roll over and wet yourself with fear every time you are sued. The EPA has government lawyers - use them.

The difference is that under Obama, the EPA wanted activist judges to require them to do things.

[alternatives?]

“These groups will continue to sue and activist judges will continue to rule in their favor. Is the EPA going to ignore court orders?”

The EPA would settle before a judge ruled.

I don’t think we should have ended it. We should have applied the same approach but with conservative groups. The coal industry sues to allow the use of coal, before it is ruled on, the EPA settles allowing the use of coal countrywide and they will donate $25M to the NRA.

[FreedomOfExpression]

So how do you stop it? These groups will continue to sue and activist judges will continue to rule in their favor. Is the EPA going to ignore court orders?

There were no judicial rulings, other than rubber stamping the already agreed upon "settlement" between the activist groups and their friends the activist EPA.

[caligatrux]

Well, I think this is a good step, making sure everyone knows that they are going to end the practice. Then they need to have some real oversight and make sure that the hardcore lefties and the corrupticrats don’t continue to do it behind your back. Ultimately, it comes down to who holds the purse-strings and who writes the checks. You have to turn off the cash flow as much as possible.

[EdnaMode]

Winning!

[Manly Warrior]

No, what was happening in the past was the EPA would adopt rules/regulations that made the enrviro wackos happy by virtue of a court agreement- in violation of the APA( admin procedures act) which requires proposed regs/rules to be made public and a 90 or 120 day commentary/argument period after which the agency ( EPA in this case) would either adopt the rule or modify it etc.

Now, EPA will simply have to agree if they want, get the ruling done with, then follow the APA for adoption of rules as it always should have been. Agreeing with one party to an issue -(even if the agency settles and says uncle) does not make an agency act- at least not lawfully.

I doubt any judge would dictate what reg/rule must be created, only that the EPA must address an issue-due process is due process.

[TRY ONE]

BTW is there any positive news on AG Sessions?

What is Sessions doing to counter past Hussein abuses?

What has Sessions done to help Trump?

[thulldud]

IIRC, it was Browner that started this practice at EPA — it provided a cover for exceeding their authority as well as a way to steer money to groups that couldn't raise near that much from legitimate contributors.

[Kickass Conservative]

Didn’t that nine person Scientific think tank, the SCOTUS, rule that CO2 was a Pollutant a few years ago?