Sierra Club v. Costle
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
657 F.2d 298 (1981)
After the public comment period closed on an EPA (defendant) rule governing coal-plant emissions, the EPA accepted and docketed nearly 300 late comments, while also engaging in undocketed ex parte communications, including an inadvertently undocketed meeting with Senate staff and an undocketed meeting with White House officials; the Environmental Defense Fund (plaintiff) challenged the resulting rule, arguing the EPA would have adopted stricter emissions standards absent these post-comment-period communications.
Whether the Environmental Protection Agency violates the Clean Air Act when it promulgates a rule after considering documents and ex parte communications from the post-comment period.