https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/A86B20D79BEB893E85258152005CA1B2/$file/17-1145-1682465.pdf
Important on Admin law and likely more important in the current Admin (it is no coincidence that the cases relied on are from the early Reagan era). When an agency stays its action pending review, is that "final agency action" subject to agency review. Court holds yes, with the majority rejecting Brown's dissent that while a denial of a stay is final agency action, grant of a stay is not. The rest is relevant to "logical outgrowth test" but mostly falls under the specifics of the Clean Air Act (note FCC has very different reconsideration statute).
Brown's dissent is typical of the anti-regulatory bias of the Federalist society. A decision to "relieve" an industry of a regulatory obligation is not considered a judicially reviewable action because -- in Brown's view -- this simply restores the natural order of the universe. Only denial of a stay constitutes a final agency action, because then the actual rule goes into effect. As the majority points out, the decision to exempt industry from otherwise extant legal obligations is a "determination of rights and obligations" under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Important on Admin law and likely more important in the current Admin (it is no coincidence that the cases relied on are from the early Reagan era). When an agency stays its action pending review, is that "final agency action" subject to agency review. Court holds yes, with the majority rejecting Brown's dissent that while a denial of a stay is final agency action, grant of a stay is not. The rest is relevant to "logical outgrowth test" but mostly falls under the specifics of the Clean Air Act (note FCC has very different reconsideration statute).
Brown's dissent is typical of the anti-regulatory bias of the Federalist society. A decision to "relieve" an industry of a regulatory obligation is not considered a judicially reviewable action because -- in Brown's view -- this simply restores the natural order of the universe. Only denial of a stay constitutes a final agency action, because then the actual rule goes into effect. As the majority points out, the decision to exempt industry from otherwise extant legal obligations is a "determination of rights and obligations" under the Administrative Procedure Act.