Opinion ID: 321074
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Absence of an Environmental Impact Statement

Text: 117 Petitioners argue that an environmental impact statement was required with respect to these Fuel Regulations because, under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act, 74 such statements must accompany the 'major Federal actions' of 'all agencies of the Federal Government.' We have grave doubt that Congress intended to subject EPA to the requirements of that Act; no Court of Appeals has ever so held. See, e.g., Anaconda Co. v. Ruckelshaus, 10 Cir., 482 F.2d 1301, 1305-1306 (1973); Buckeye Power, Inc. v. EPA, 6 Cir., 481 F.2d 162, 174 (1973); Getty Oil Co. (Eastern Operations) v. Ruckelshaus, 3 Cir., 467 F.2d 349, 359 (1972), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1125, 93 S.Ct. 937, 35 L.Ed.2d 256 (1973). 75 118 Furthermore, this court has invariably exempted EPA actions taken under the Clean Air Act from NEPA's requirement for an impact statement. See, e.g., Essex Chemical Corp. v. Ruckelshaus, 158 U.S.App.D.C. 360, 364, 486 F.2d 427, 431 (1973) (action under Section 111 of the Act); Portland Cement Assn. v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 158 U.S.App.D.C. at 317-319, 486 F.2d at 384-386 (action under Section 111 of the Act); International Harvester Co. v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 155 U.S.App.D.C. at 446 n. 130, 478 F.2d at 650 n. 130 (action under Section 202(b)(5)(D) of the Act). See also the NEPA exemption found for EPA actions under Section 110 of the Clean Air Act in Buckeye Power, Inc. v. EPA, supra, 481 F.2d at 173-174; Duquesne Light Co. v. EPA, 3 Cir., 481 F.2d 1, 9 (1973); Appalachian Power Co. v. EPA, 4 Cir., 477 F.2d 495, 508 (1973). 119 Our rationale has been that the Clean Air Act provides, procedurally and substantively, for the 'functional equivalent' of compliance with NEPA. Portland Cement Assn. v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 158 U.S.App.D.C. at 317, 486 F.2d at 384. See also Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. EPA, 160 U.S.App.D.C. 123, 132-133, 489 F.2d 1247, 1256-1257 (1973). 120    We see little need in requiring a NEPA statement from an agency whose raison d'etre is the protection of the environment and whose decision on suspension is necessarily infused with the environmental considerations so pertinent to Congress in designing the statutory framework. To require a 'statement,' in addition to a decision setting forth the same considerations, would be a legalism carried to the extreme. 121 International Harvester Co. v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 155 U.S.App.D.C. at 446 n. 130, 478 F.2d at 650 n. 130. This does not mean that the Clean Air Act literally requires EPA to go through all the motions involved in filing an impact statement; indeed, the fact that the Clean Air Act calls for extraordinarily expeditious decision-making is one reason for exempting this decision-making from NEPA's time-consuming routine. Portland Cement Assn. v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 158 U.S.App.D.C. at 313-314, 486 F.2d at 380-381. Rather, the 'functional equivalence' test merely recognizes that the Clean Air Act itself provides for orderly consideration of diverse environmental factors and that the Act's rule-making procedures 'strike a workable balance between some of the advantages and disadvantages of full application of NEPA.' Id., 158 U.S.App.D.C. at 319, 486 F.2d at 386. 122 In this regard we note that Section 211(c) of the Clean Air Act, here at issue, requires EPA to weigh 'available scientific and economic data, including a cost benefit analysis,' in deciding whether or not to regulate fuels, Section 211(c)(2)(B), and that the Administrator must also find that prohibition of a particular fuel or additive will not cause use of an alternative of equal or greater danger to the public welfare, Section 211(c)(2)(C). There is provision, as elsewhere in the Act, for comment by interested parties, for a public hearing, and for full judicial review. Thus we find no cause in these cases for departing from the general rule that EPA actions under the Clean Air Act are exempt from NEPA's requirement of an environmental impact statement.