EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Taken to Court by States, Cities

A coalition of 18 states, one county, and the nation’s three biggest cities sued the EPA on Tuesday in New York federal court over a final rule that restricts how science can be used in future agency rulemaking.

The state and local governments, led by New York state, alleged that the Federal Housekeeping Statute—which the Environmental Protection Agency relied on the as the basis of its Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule—grants no authority to the agency. The EPA doesn’t appear on the list of executive departments covered by the statute.

The rule also clashes with the EPA’s duty to ...