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Bonser-Lain v. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Country/Territory
United States of America
Type of court
National - lower court
Date
Aug 2, 2012
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
United States District Court, District of Texas
Seat of court
Travis County
Judge
Triana
Reference number
No. D-1-GN-11-002194
Language
English
Subject
Air & atmosphere, Environment gen., Legal questions
Keyword
Air quality/air pollution Air quality standards Climate change
Abstract
In the underlying lawsuit, the Texas Environmental Law Center sued the TCEQ on behalf of a group of children and young adults. The Center asserted that the State of Texas had a fiduciary duty to reduce the emissions as the common law trustee of a "public trust" responsible for the air and atmosphere. Similar to Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007)—a proceeding which successfully challenged the EPA's refusal to regulate greenhouse gases — the Texas lawsuit was brought after the TCEQ denied plaintiffs' petition for rulemaking related to greenhouse gas regulations. Plaintiffs then sought judicial review to force the TCEQ to regulate the emissions. They argued that the atmosphere is a "public trust" under the common law; a "fundamental natural resource necessarily entrusted to the care of our federal government...for its preservation and protection as a common property interest Despite the “displacement” or preemption of common law remedies in the climate change arena recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut, 564 U.S (2011), the Texas district judge in Bonser-Lain stated in a letter that he disagreed with TECQ’s position that the public trust doctrine should be limited to water issues. Rather, the Court concluded that all natural resources of the State fell within the ambit of the doctrine. Judge Triana reasoned that, because whether TCEQ has authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Texas Clean Air Act is an issue involved in a separate case that is on appeal to the Third Court of Appeals, "the legal landscape is uncertain" and "the Commission’s refusal to exercise its authority based on current litigation is a reasonable exercise of its discretion. The Court will find that the Commission’s conclusion, that the public trust doctrine is exclusively limited to the conservation of water, is legally invalid. The doctrine includes all natural resources of the State. In reaching this decision, the court expressly stated that the public trust doctrine "is not simply a common law doctrine" but is incorporated into the Texas Constitution, which (1) protects "the conservation and development of all the resources of the State," (2) declares conservation of those resources "public rights and duties," and (3) directs the Legislature to pass appropriate laws to protect these resources. The court also relied upon the Texas Clean Air Act as an additional ground of the TCEQ's authority to act "to protect against adverse effects, including global warming.
Full text
COU-159572.pdf