Supreme Court rules SREs should be decided in DC U.S. Court of Appeals

In Washington, Reuters reports the Supreme Court decided the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is the correct court to hear cases by small refiners fighting decisions made by the Environmental Protection Agency regarding exemption applications. The 7-2 ruling determined that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where a case in 2023 ruled against the EPA’s decision to deny SRE waivers, was not the right venue for such a decision and reversed the decision.

Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association jointly said: “Today’s decision is a victory for the American biofuels industry and for the rural communities that depend on a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Court agreed with our argument that the D.C. Circuit is the only appropriate venue for litigation on EPA’s SRE decisions. Because the RFS is a national program and SREs have nationwide impacts, any challenges to SRE decisions belong squarely in the D.C. Circuit. Allowing 12 different Circuit Courts to adjudicate SREs would result in a fractured and inconsistent body of law, causing chaos and confusion in the marketplace. The court’s opinion today gives farmers and ethanol producers much greater certainty about SRE litigation under the RFS, which continues to be one of the nation’s most successful clean energy programs.” 

In March, RFA and Growth Energy presented oral arguments to the Supreme Court on this case, jointly petitioning on EPA’s behalf and urging the court to reject the argument by refineries that would allow them to “forum shop” for more favorable venues to challenge recent SRE denials despite clear direction from Congress that those decisions should be adjudicated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

The Supreme Court granted certiorari from an outlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which held that challenges to the SRE denials at issue were properly brought before it. Numerous other circuit courts had disagreed, finding instead that the D.C. Circuit is the proper venue for these SRE challenges and creating the “circuit split” on venue that the Supreme Court is resolving here.