Justices’ Rulings Sharply Curtail E.P.A. Authority 美國最高法院大幅限縮環保署權力

2024年8月29日星期四

Justices’ Rulings Sharply Curtail E.P.A. Authority 美國最高法院大幅限縮環保署權力

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Justices' Rulings Sharply Curtail E.P.A. Authority 美國最高法院大幅限縮環保署權力
Fight Over Seabed Agency Leadership Turns Nasty 國際海床機構主導權之爭領導人

Justices' Rulings Sharply Curtail E.P.A. Authority 美國最高法院大幅限縮環保署權力
文/Coral Davenport
譯/周辰陽美國最高法院大幅限縮環保署權力 A spate of decisions over the past two years by the Supreme Court has significantly impaired the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to limit pollution in the air and water, regulate the use of toxic chemicals and reduce the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. 美國最高法院過去2年間的一連串判決，讓環保署限制空氣和水汙染、規範有毒化學品使用以及減少讓地球暖化溫室氣體的權力顯著限縮。 The environmental agency has been under fire, the result of a series of cases brought since 2022 by conservative activists who say that EPA regulations have driven up costs for industries ranging from electric utilities to homebuilding. Those arguments have resonated among justices skeptical of government regulation. 保守派活動人士自2022年提起一系列案件，讓環保署一直受到嚴厲批評。這些人士說，環保署的法規推高各行各業成本，從電業到住宅建造。這些論點在對政府管制持懷疑態度的大法官之間產生共鳴。 On Friday, the court ended the use of what is known as the Chevron doctrine, a cornerstone of administrative law for 40 years that said that courts should defer to government agencies to interpret unclear laws. That decision threatens the authority of many federal agencies to regulate the environment and also health care, workplace safety, telecommunications, the financial sector and more. 周五，最高法院終止被稱為「雪佛龍原則」的使用，這是行政法40年來的基礎。該原則說，法院應聽從政府機構詮釋不確定的法律。這個判決威脅許多聯邦機構規範環境的權力，還有醫療保健、職場安全、電信、金融行業等等。 But more remarkable have been several decisions by the court to intervene to stop environmental regulations before they were decided by lower courts or even before they were implemented by the executive branch. 但更值得注意的是，在下級法院判決之前，甚至在行政部門實施之前，最高法院作出幾個介入判決以中止環境法規。 On Thursday, the court said the EPA could not limit smokestack pollution that blows across state borders under a measure known as the "good neighbor rule." In that case, the court took the surprising step of weighing in while litigation was still pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 周四，最高法院表示，環保署不能根據一項名為「睦鄰規定」的措施，限制吹過州界的煙囪汙染。在這起案件，當訴訟仍在哥倫比亞特區聯邦巡迴上訴法院等候判決時，最高法院採取令人吃驚的介入舉動。 The court also acted in an unusually preliminary fashion last year when it struck down a proposed EPA rule known as Waters of the United States that was designed to protect millions of acres of wetlands from pollution, acting before the regulation had even been made final. 最高法院去年還以一種不尋常的先行方式，封殺環保署研擬中一項名為「美國水域」的法規，這項法規是為了保護數百萬英畝溼地免受汙染，最高法院在該法規確定前就採取行動。 Similarly, in a 2022 challenge to an EPA climate proposal known as the Clean Power Plan, the court limited the agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, even though that rule had not yet taken effect. 同樣的，最高法院2022年對環保署名為「清潔能源計畫」的氣候提案提出異議，限制環保署規範發電廠溫室氣體排放的能力，即使該規定還沒有生效。 Collectively, those decisions now not only endanger many existing environmental rules but also may prevent future administrations from writing new ones, experts say. 專家說，整體而言，這些判決如今不只危及許多現行環境規定，還可能妨礙未來的政府制定新規定。 "This court has shown an interest in making law in this area and not having the patience to wait for the cases to first come up through the courts," said Kevin Minoli, a lawyer who worked in the EPA's office of general counsel from the Clinton through the Trump administrations. "It's like, we're going to tell you the answer before you even ask the question." 曾從柯林頓至川普政府任職環保署法律總顧問辦公室的律師米諾里表示，「這個最高法院已表現出在此一領域制定法律的興趣，而且沒有耐心等待案件先經由各級法院審理。情況就像，我們將告訴你答案，甚至在你問問題之前」。

Fight Over Seabed Agency Leadership Turns Nasty 國際海床機構主導權之爭領導人
文/Eric Lipton
譯/周辰陽國際海床機構主導權之爭領導人 Allegations of possible payments to help secure votes. Claims of abuse of agency funds by top diplomats. A possible job offer to entice a candidate to withdraw from a race. 「可能付錢以協助獲得選票的指控」、「高級外交官濫用機構資金的主張」、「一份可能誘使候選人退出競爭的工作機會」。 These are not the shenanigans of a corrupt election in an unstable country. Rather, they are efforts in the seemingly genteel parlors of a United Nations-affiliated agency, meant to sway decisions related to the start of seabed mining of the metals used in electric vehicles. 這些不是一個不穩定國家的腐敗選舉詭計。相反的，它們是在一個聯合國附屬機構看似高雅客廳所做的努力，打算影響一些與啟動海底金屬採礦有關的決定，這些金屬用於電動車。 It is all part of a nasty fight over who will be the next leader of the International Seabed Authority, which controls mining in international waters worldwide. 這些都是關於誰將成為「國際海底管理局」下任領導人險惡爭奪戰的一部分，該機構控制全球國際海域的採礦。 The accusations of trickery underscore the controversial nature of the agency's coming agenda and the billions of dollars at stake. Some countries are fiercely opposed to the idea of mining the world's deepest waters, while others see it as a badly needed economic opportunity. Whoever helms the agency's top post over the next few years will have considerable influence over these decisions. 詐欺的指控，凸顯該機構即將到來議程的爭議性質，以及其攸關數十億美元。一些國家強烈反對在世界最深海域採礦的想法，而其他國家卻視之為亟需的經濟機遇。無論誰在接下來幾年執掌該機構最高職位，將對這些決定擁有相當大的影響力。 Michael Lodge, the secretary-general at the International Seabed Authority since 2016, is urging the diplomats from the agency's 168 member nations to elect him to a third four-year term. From that perch, he hopes to help the agency finalize environmental rules as it prepares to accept its first application, perhaps as early as this fall, to start industrial-scale mining in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Mexico. 2016年起擔任國際海底管理局秘書長的洛奇，正敦促來自該機構168個成員國的外交官，選他出任第3個4年任期。從這個高位，他希望協助該機構準備接受其第一份申請書時，確定環境規則，或許最早在今年秋季，以啟動在夏威夷與墨西哥之間太平洋海域的工業規模採礦。 His opponent, Leticia Carvalho, is an oceanographer and former oil industry regulator from Brazil. She has called for a more deliberative approach, arguing that several years of work likely remain to finish writing the rules. Her position is that no mining applications should be approved until that process is wrapped up. 他的對手萊蒂西亞．卡瓦略是來自巴西的海洋學家兼前石油工業監管人，她已呼籲採取更審慎的作法，認為完成撰寫規則可能仍要幾年的作業。她的立場是，直到這個程序完成以前，不應批准任何採礦申請書。 In the midst of this already intense campaign, a former senior Seabed Authority executive filed a complaint with the United Nations in May, accusing Lodge and his top deputy of misusing agency funds. 在這場已很激烈的競選活動中，一名海底管理局前資深高管5月向聯合國投訴，指控洛奇跟他的最高副手濫用該機構資金。 Supporters of the two candidates each have accused the other side of attempting to influence the outcome of the election by offering to pay travel costs for delegates or to pay delegations' past-due membership fees. Countries in arrears are generally prohibited from voting, and 38 nations were behind in payments as of May. 兩位候選人的支持者各自指控另外一邊，試圖為代表支付旅費，或支付代表團的過期會費，來影響選舉的結果。欠費國家通常被禁止投票，截至5月有38國拖延付款。

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