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Community Rights Counsel ("CRC") is disappointed
with the Supreme Court's ruling today in Engine Manufacturers
v. South Coast Air Quality Management District, No. 02-1343,
which undermines efforts by States and local governments across
the country to clean the dirty air inhaled by millions of
Americans.
In the words of Doug Kendall, CRC's Executive Director, "It
is a bad ruling for more than 100 million Americans who breathe
unhealthy air every day. Preemption is federalism's forgotten
frontier. This ruling shows that the Supreme Court honors
its purported presumption against displacing state and local
government powers in the breach, even when dealing with critical
protections for public health that is traditionally dominated
by state and local control."
CRC is a nonprofit public interest law firm in Washington,
D.C. that helps States and local governments defend against
constitutional challenges to health, welfare, and environmental
protections. CRC filed a brief in the Engine Manufacturers
case on behalf of state and local government clients including
the National League of Cities, the National Conference of
State Legislatures, and the State and Territorial Air Pollution
Program Administrators.
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