Drawing Lines: The D.C. Circuit Forces the EPA and Congress to Clean Up the Process of Setting Air Quality Standards in American Trucking Associations Inc. v. EPA

This Comment explains the Clean Air Act’s requirements for setting the national ambient air quality standards and how the standards at issue in American Trucking were developed. Part II examines the potential economic implications of the proposed ozone standards and the challenge to the standards in American Trucking. Part III analyzes the American Trucking decision, focusing first on the court’s nondelegation holding and then on more subtle issues underlying the decision. Part III also examines potential solutions to the flawed process currently used to set air quality standards. Part IV recommends how to address some of the fundamental issues identified in the American Trucking decision.