Spring will soon be in the air, but just how clean is the air we breathe? According to Rutgers Law–Camden Professor Craig Oren, who worked for the congressional committee that considers changes to the Clean Air Act, air quality has improved since the federal law passed in 1970. But this year marks a pivotal one for extending the Environmental Protection Agency’s powers. Two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court exemplify the agency’s attempts to further its reach by addressing decades-old problems: inter-state transport of air pollution and greenhouse gases.
“Largely it’s a coincidence, but it does show that the EPA is expanding its scope of regulation under the act,” says Oren, an environmental law expert at Rutgers Law–Camden. “It is a sign of progress that the EPA is trying to regulate in difficult areas.”
Oren, who has served on National Research Council committees on visibility, hazardous air pollutants and new source review, teaches environmental law at Rutgers–Camden. His research focuses on how the Clean Air Act should be interpreted, where it’s been successful or not, and how well programs designed to regulate the law are working and why.
Recently during a faculty colloquium, Oren discussed Environmental Protection Agency v. EME Homer City Generation. The case revolves around the meaning of the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” provision, which requires states to curb the air pollution that contributes significantly to violations of the air quality standards in other states. But what does “contribute significantly” mean precisely and how might cost be factored into what is reasonable?
While a decision in the case that pits coal-burning utilities and some Midwestern states against the EPA is expected this June, Oren thinks the court will defer to an agency in an area as complex as this one.
"All told, the program will reduce emissions from power plants by about 70%. It's still not going to be enough to end the violations in the northeast, but it's a step in the right direction."
While 40% of the electricity in the U.S. is generated by burning coal in power plants, which are mostly located in the Midwest and south, burning coals in these plants produces, among other things, large quantities of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, gases dangerous to public health and welfare.
"Prevailing winds carry the pollutants from the plants to the east, including the northeast," says Oren. "The stuff actually gets more dangerous as it moves east; for instance, a lot of it turns into fine particles that penetrate into the deep lung and help cause heart attacks. The stuff also contributes to urban ozone, which is responsible for thousands of asthma attacks a year premature mortality."
In April, Oren will present another faculty colloquium on the U.S. Supreme Court Case Utility Air Regulatory Group v. the Environmental Protection Agency, which delves into how EPA may regulate new factories and industry that produce greenhouse gases. “This is an important question because greenhouse gases produce global warming, which would have a lot of effects on our lives.”
While Oren notes that it’s never fully known what cases will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, he tracks cases based on the issue being argued and if the argument is close enough for the Supreme Court to get involved.
“The best thing we can do for students interested in practicing in environmental law is to introduce them to the major statutes and illustrate to them the themes of the field,” he advises. “Themes like the amount of scientific evidence we want or need before we regulate and how costs are considered, and matters such as that.”
A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Oren teaches courses in environmental law, administrative law, legislation and property at Rutgers Law–Camden. Prior to joining Rutgers Law–Camden in 1984, Oren clerked for Justice Matthew O. Tobriner of the California Supreme Court; practiced litigation at Schiff Hardin & Waite in Chicago; served as assistant counsel for the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives; and was a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air and Radiation.