Petition — Virginia ex rel. Air Pollution Control Board v. Train
Supreme Court brief1976
Ask Donna
What actually matters in this document.
Text
Supreme Court, & &
FILED
JAN 26 1976
MICHAEL RODAK, JR., CLERK
Supreme Court of the United States
No €5- 1059
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, Ex REL.,
STATE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD,
Petitioner,
v.
RUSSELL E. TRAIN, ApMINIsTRATOR, AND
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondents.
PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
JUDGMENT OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
ANDREW P. MILLER
Attorney General of Virginia
WALTER A. McFarRLANE
Deputy Attorney General
J. THomaAs STEGER
RicHarp K. C. SUTHERLAND
Assistant Attorneys General
Supreme Court Building
1101 E. Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TEE Ne RG SCROTAL IER SE 1
EERE EIS NOT LAS ARSE NIE POMC MEE l
STaTuUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED ........................-----ccccccseeoeecceceeeeeeees 2
BITTY III I i icinccinsineldeehdeleiethic cantante tilaiaiain 2
I Sr <siacicsccascicinesnctcnsnesssqsctinichiscnnitsinusalabiinennapiasabdsiiiieiae 2
IS ALTOS IIR ELOISE 3
a 6
aL a a 15
ETI TE SEA SOLS A RT DTT RTP 17
TABLE OF CITATIONS
Cases
Brown v. E.P.A., 521 F.2d 827 (9th Cir. 1975) 20.002... ceceeeeee 5
Florida Lime and Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132
DUTETETIET <cciptessnieiontsecicetsccidipeciiapaliptediectiinedidlembenambadsedichibenidaneennntentedepeininaiell 6, 8
Huron Portland Cement Co. v. Detroit, 362 U.S. 440 (1960) ........ 7
Maryland v. E.P.A., ...... F.2d ...... SD, TTI: cepushsetumatinnmesiandes 5
Pennsylvania v. E.P.A., 500 F.2d 246 (3rd Cir. 1974) 00000... 5
ee ee ee 6
United States v. California, 297 U.S. 175 (1936) 200. i)
Constitution
United States Constitution, Article I, § 10 2.020.200... cceeccceeceteeeeee 12
Statutes Page
BF I AD cccnienisnsiceninisininchtanitlainnansiinctininmindisinibieiibsepimineaitiniten 13
Clean Air Act, § 110(a), 42 U.S.C. § 1857c-5(a) 0 eee 2
Clean Air Act, § 110(c) (1), 42 U.S.C. §1857c-5(c) (1) .............. 2,3
Clean Air Act, § 113, 42 U.S.C, § 1857-8 o.oo... cseceeeeeeeenees 2, 4
Clean Air Act, § 116, 42 U.S.C. § 1857ded oo ceceeceeee eens 2, 8
Clean Air Act, § 307(b) (1), 42 U.S.C. § 1857h-5(b) (1) .............. 3
Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Compact, Pub. L.
89-774, 80 Stat. 1324 (Va. Acts 1966, Ch. 2), Title III,
eS TE ID chientiininiscchiearerennecisncecintataiamnpnniinemnnatinnesinniniidia 2, 11
Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, § 46.1-32 —....0..-.--2.-e- 7
Supreme Court of the United States
lea
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, ex REL.,
STATE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD,
Petitioner,
v.
RUSSELL E. TRAIN, ApMINIsTRATOR, AND
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondents.
PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
JUDGMENT OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
The Commonwealth of Virginia, ex rel., the State Air
Pollution Control Board, prays that a writ of certiorari
issue to review the judgment of the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit entered on
October 28, 1975. 3
OPINION BELOW
The opinion of the court below is reported at 521 F.2d
971 (D.C. Cir. 1975) and appears as Appendix A. (The
pagination of the decision, as contained in the Appendix,
reflects the first printing by West Publishing Co., and not
that of the Reporter volume. )
2
STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED
The statutory and regulatory provisions involved are set
forth in the Appendix and include:
(1) Section 110(a) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 1857c-5(a)
(2) Section 110(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 1857c-5(c) (1)
(3) Section 113 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 1857c-8
(4) Section 116 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 1857d-1
(5) Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 1857h-5(b) (1)
(6) Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Com-
pany, Pub. L. 89-774, 80 Stat. 1324 (Va. Acts 1966,
Ch. 2), Title III, Article VII, § 16
(7) 40 C.F.R. Part 52, Subpart J (D.C.) V (Maryland),
and VV ( Virginia )
JURISDICTION OF THE COURT
The judgment of the court below was entered on October
28, 1975. The jurisdiction of this court is invoked under
28 U.S.C. § 1254(1).
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
1. Whether the Administrator of the United States En-
vironmental Protection Agency has the statutory authority
to preempt a state’s registration law, by conditioning the
continued operation of such law upon the incorporation
3
therein of the results of a federally established emission
inspection?
2. Whether the Administrator of the United States En-
vironmental Protection Agency has the constitutional and
statutory authority to require a state to construct exclusive
bus lanes and make a commitment to purchase additional
buses.
3. Whether the Commnowealth of Virginia can be re-
garded as the owner and operator of a bus fleet, when in
fact such bus fleet is owned and operated by the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority?
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This is an appeal from a judgment which affirmed, in
part, and vacated, in part, certain regulations promulgated
by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency on December 6, 1973. The petitioner herein had
sought judicial review of these regulations by filing a peti-
tion for review pursuant to § 307(b) (1), 42 U.S.C. § 1857
h-5(b)(1) (App. B) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
1857, et seq. The petition was originally filed in the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, but was
transferred to the court below, the Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit, upon motion of the respondent
Administrator.
The regulations under review purport to be a transporta-
tion control plan, for the National Capital Air Quality
Control Region, promulgated by the Administrator under
§ 110(c), 42 U.S.C. § 1857c-5(c), (App. B) of the Clean
Air Act. They were promulgated after the Administrator dis-
approved the transportation control plans submitted by
Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia on the
4
grounds that they contained certain regulatory and enforce-
ment deficiencies, including the failure of the jurisdictions
to guarantee that the necessary state laws and appropria-
tions would be forthcoming. Confronted with these de-
ficiencies, the Administrator prepared his own “plan,”
which consisted primarily of regulations which ordered the
governments involved to submit the missing elements and
correct the deficiencies. Thus, these regulations directed the
states to develop a motor vehicle emission inspection pro-
gram, to provide the laws, regulations, financing, adminis-
tration and enforcement necessary for such a program. In a
similar fashion, the regulations also directed the states to
develop and enforce a program which would require the
installation of retrofit air pollution control devices on motor
vehicles. The regulations directed local governments to en-
force a ban against on-street parking under certain circum-
stances. The regulations required Virginia, Maryland and
the District of Columbia to construct several exclusive bus
lanes and to make financial commitments to enable the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to pur-
chase 475 additional buses by 1977. The three governments
were also directed to construct a total of 180 miles of new
commuter bicycle lanes. Failure to carry out any of these
duties would result in the application of the sanctions found
at § 113,42 U.S.C. § 1857c-8 (App. B).
These regulations were challenged by the petitioner on
the basis that they were beyond the statutory and constitu-
tional powers of the Administrator and also that they were
arbitrary and capricious. The court below held that the
Clean Air Act required the Administrator, not the states,
to develop and promulgate the substitute regulations when
state-submitted plans are found to be inadequate. The court
also held that the Administrator could not constitutionally
compel the states to administer and enforce his regulations.
5
Such requirements were therefore vacated. The court held,
however, that the Administrator could prevent the states
from registering vehicles which do not pass the federally
established emission inspection, and the states could also be
compelled to construct the bus lanes and make the commit-
ment to provide the additional buses. The requirements for
180 miles of commuter bicycle lanes were vacated, inas-
much as the only evidence for them in the record consisted
of some survey taken in Philadelphia.
“The Administrator had also promulgated similar trans-
portation control plans in other regions of the nation, and
these promulgations were also challenged, in certain in-
stances, by the affected states. The various Circuit Courts
of Appeals which heard these challenges issued decisions
which differ, in varying degrees, from the decision of the
court below. In Pennsylvania v. E.P.A., 500 F.2d 246 (3rd
Cir. 1974), the Third Circuit held that the Administrator
had both statutory and constitutional authority to order
Pennsylvania to develop, administer, legislate for, and en-
force the requirements for inspection and maintenance,
retrofits, bus lanes, etc. In Brown vy. E.P.A., 521 F.2d 827
(9th Cir. 1975), and Maryland v. E.P.A., ...... F.2d ......
(4th Cir. 1975), the Ninth and Fourth Circuits, respectively,
held that the Clean Air Act did not authorize the Adminis-
trator to require the states to correct the deficiencies in their
submitted plans or to otherwise be ordered to act as the
Administrator’s servants. Rather, the Administrator was
to develop, administer and enforce the plan, when the states
chose not to. Having ruled on the statutory question, these
two Circuits thereby avoided the constitutional question,
although both strongly suggested that the powers asserted
by the Administrator would be unconstitutional, had they in
fact been found in the Clean Air Act.
6
ARGUMENT
A.
The Court Below Erred In Affirming The Lawfulness Of The Ad-
ministrator’s Regulations To The Extent That They Prohibit
The States From Registering Vehicles Which Do Not Conform
To A Federal Inspection.
The court below held that the Administrator, acting pur-
suant to Congressional authority, could prescribe a rule
which would prohibit Virginia from registering a motor
vehicle which does not have a certificate of compliance from
a federally-established emission inspection.* In effect, this
regulation would allow the continued operation of Virginia’s
registration law only if Virginia refuses to register persons
who do not comply with the federal emission inspection. In
essence, therefore, the court below has held that the Ad-
ministrator may preempt the Virginia registration law, un-
less it is consistent with the Administrator’s regulation.
The registration of motor vehicles is well within the
police power of the states. It is a well-settled rule that a
statute enacted in the execution of a reserved power of a
state is not to be regarded as inconsistent with an act of
Congress passed in the execution of a clear power under the
Constitution unless the repugnance or conflict is so direct
and positive that the two cannot be reconciled or stand
together. Savage v. Jones, 225 U.S. 501, 535 (1912). As this
Court has stated in Florida Lime and Avocado Growers,
Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142 (1963), “. . . federal regula-
tion of a field of commerce should not be deemed preemp-
* The regulations in question appear at 40 C.F.R. §§ 52.2441(d) ;
52.2444(e) , 52.2446(e) , 52.2447(e), (App. A, pp. 319, 320, 322-327).
The court below affirmed these regulations ‘only to the extent that
they restrain the operation of state registration. The court did not
affirm the portion of the E.P.A. regulations which purported to require
Virginia to not allow the nonregistered vehicles to operate.
7
tive of state regulatory powers in the absence of persuasive
reason—either that the nature of the regulated subject per-
mits no other conclusion, or that Congress has unmistakably
so ordained.” In the present case, the Administrator has the
undisputed statutory power to inspect motor vehicles and
to prohibit them from operating if they fail his inspection.
The registration laws of Virginia do not conflict with the
Administrator’s powers. Compliance with the federal inspec-
tion merely becomes an additional requirement which is im-
posed before one can operate a motor vehicle. The Ad-
ministrator can utilize a decal system to indicate com-
pliance or noncompliance with his inspection, and he can
obtain a list of vehicle registrations from the Common-
wealth, if he needs them. Pursuant to § 46.1-32 of the Code
of Virginia (1950), as amended, (App. B), registration lists
are available for purchase.
The situation involved in the present case is, in effect,
the reverse of the situation found in Huron Portland Cement
Co. v. Detroit, 362 U.S. 440 (1960). There, the federal
government was the licensing authority, and the city was the
authority which regulated air pollution. This Court found
no conflict in the concurrent exercise of each government’s
powers. The purpose of the Detroit air pollution ordinance
was to enhance the cleanliness of the community. The mere
possession of a federal license was no immunity from the
normal incidence of the local police power. In the same
way, the mere possession of a state registration is no im-
munity from the incidence of the federal commerce power.
A state registration indicates nothing more than compliance
with certain state requirements; it does not compel anyone
to operate a vehicle in violation of any federal requirement.
Indeed, at present, the state requires registration of certain
vehicles used as interstate carriers, even though these ve-
8
hicles must also be certified in accordance with federal inter-
state commerce regulations. There is no conflict between the
two; the owner can comply with both.
Since there is no conflict in practice between state regis-
tration and federal emission inspection, we must look to the
other aspect of the rule regarding preemption, as described
in the Florida Lime and Avocado Growers case, supra:
the question whether Congress has unmistakably ordained
preemption. We find no such unmistakable expression, in
the Clean Air Act, that Congress intended that a state
registration law should be preempted in such a way that it
can no longer continue unless it incorporates or depends
upon the results of a federal emission inspection.
There are, of course, sections of the Clean Air Act which
do unmistakably authorize degrees of preemption of state
laws. A clear expression of preemption, for example, is
found at § 116 of the Act, which states, in part,
“cc
. that if an emission standard limitation is in
effect under an applicable implementation plan or
under §§ 111 or 112, such State or political subdivision
may not adopt or enforce any emission s.andard or
limitation which is less stringent than the standard or
limitation made under such plan or section.” 42 U.S.C.
§ 1857d-1 (App. B).
The Virginia registration law does not specify compliance
with any emission standard or limitation, as a precondition
to registration. To the extent that the Virginia law would
specify an emission standard which might be less stringent
than that specified by the Administrator, then only that
portion of the law would be preempted. Otherwise, the
Virginia registration law is not an air pollution control
measure; it is a police regulation, the primary purpose of
which is to identify the ownership of motor vehicles. There
is no clear and unmistakable expression, in the Clean Air
-_ =)
9
Act, of Congressional intent to preempt this police power, by
preconditioning the continued operation of the registration
law upon incorporation therein of federal inspection results.
It must be noted in this regard that the court below did not
point to any express provision in the Act which clearly
authorizes such preemption. The Court merely concluded, in
the briefest fashion, that such authorization existed.
Accordingly, it is respectfully submitted that the lower
court erred in affirming the lawfulness of those portions of
the Administrator’s regulations which restrain, or preempt,
the operation of a state’s registration laws, except upon the
incorporation of the results of a federally-established emis-
sion inspection.
B.
The Lower Court Erred In Holding That The Administrator Has
The Constitutional And Statutory Power To Expend Vast Sums
Of State Money To Regulate Pollution Sources Caused By The
General Public Through The Construction Of Exclusive Bus
Lanes And Commitments To Purchase Buses For Another
Agency.
The court below said of the Clean Air Act, that “. . . the
language in the statute is broad enough to include authority
to require that the states conform their transportation sys-
tems to federal standards, e.g. by constructing exclusive
bus lanes or expanding their bus fleets.” (App. A, p. 281;
emphasis added.) “The streets and highways and bus sys-
tems of the states are not being regulated by the Adminis-
trator as direct emitters of pollution but rather as factors
which influence the use of pollution sources by other parties.
We believe that these state-owned transportation systems
are analogous to the railroad operated by the state in
United States v. California, supra. This situation is similar
to federal statutes passed in the 1890’s requiring the railroad
to operate safe trains.” (App. A, p. 288; emphasis added. )
10
It is respectfully submitted that the lower court and the
Administrator have found a state-owned transportation sys-
tem and bus fleet where none exists. Buses in the geograph-
ical area in question are the property of and are operated
by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, a
completely separate and autonomous public body. Chapter
2, Article V, § 12, [1966] Virginia Acts of Assembly 5, 10.
The Commonwealth of Virginia neither owns nor operates
any such bus fleet. The Commonwealth does not own or
operate any transportation system in any location; at most,
it Owns, maintains, and regulates a highway system, only
one clement in a transportation system. That system is avail-
able to and is traversed daily by the general public for pur-
poses of commerce and pleasure.
The lower court also said of the Clean Air Act, “. . .
However, an analysis of the language of the Act, and
particularly of its enforcement provisions, does not appear to
support the Administrator’s claim that Congress intended
to authorize him to regulate sources of pollution caused by
the general public by requiring the states to enact statutes
and to administer and enforce the programs contained in
the EPA plan.” (App. A, p. 281; emphasis added.) Yet
the court could also conclude, “. . . Acting under its com-
merce power, the federal government thus can order the
states to operate their transportation systems in accordance
with federal regulations designed to protect the health of
the nation’s citizens by requiring them to purchase buses
and construct exclusive bus lanes.” (App. A, p. 288; em-
phasis added. )
Turning again to the lower court’s favored 1890's anal-
ogy, it is submitted that it breaks down if the present
regulations are applied to a “now-for-then” fact situation.
If the Administrator of 1890 had said to California, “Horses
are dirty creatures. We want freight to move by rail, so we
11
can cut down on the number of horses on the roads. Now,
to do that, you buy 475 box cars and give them, or the
money, to the Southern Pacific Railroad.”” Then we would
have the present regulation-situation.
There is a vast difference between telling a state: If you
operate a facility for public service, you shall operate it in
the safest manner presently known; and telling that same
state: For the public good, you shall give this other agency
$16,625,000 (475 buses at $35,000, conservative cost of a
standard bus) to decrease pollution by the general public.
For one thing, the appropriation of tax monies is a legisla-
tive function. Under the Administrator’s plan, the General
Assembly of Virginia would be reduced to the sole function
of assessing taxes after they have been appropriated by the
Administrator.
The lower court found that the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transportation Compact, Pub. L. 89-774, 80 Stat.
1324 (Nov. 6, 1966); Chapter 2, [1966] Virginia Acts of
Assembly 5, meant that Congress had given its approval
to a means of funding, so as to validate the Administrator’s
regulation, saying, “. . . The most that could be criticized
in the regulation might be a technical error in leaving open
the possibility that these commitments may be made directly
to WMATA by the states rather than from the states to
Districts and thence to WMATA.” (App. A, p. 298; em-
phasis added.) This logic is tainted with the same flaw as
that in the railroad analogy—each assumes to be a fact that
which is not a fact.
Title III, Article VII, § 16, of the Compact, declares as
a policy, “. . . that, as far as possible, the payment of all
costs shall be borne by the persons using or benefiting from
the Authority’s facilities and services and any remaining
costs shall be equitably shared among the federal, District
of Columbia and participating local governments in the
12
zone.’ (App. B, emphasis added.) Financing on the Vir-
ginia side of the zone is to be done by contracts between
local governments and Northern Virginia Transportation
District and WMATA, or betwen the local governments
and WMATA. The Commonwealth of Virginia is not
committed to any financing of WMATA projects, either
directly or indirectly.
The Adminstrator would create a new compact, not mere-
ly carry out existing provisions of the existing compact.
This the Constitution of the United States says he cannot
do, [U.S. Const. Art. I, § 10] even under the guise of
unilaterally requiring three separate contracts with one
purpose.
It is a new compact, for he has conveniently omitted one
of the parties in the financing; a party who is bound by the
present compact to share “equitably” in the cost of mass
transit plans; a party which has available more funds than
all the other parties combined—the Federal Government.
It is interesting that the Administrator should forget that
party. It may be that the same mental myopia seized his
faculties when he required the Commonwealth of Virginia
to establish an exclusive bus lane on the George Washington
Parkway; a facility constructed, maintained, and regulated
by the Federal Government.
An equally compelling reason for retaining the federal
presence in the “mass transit as an alternative to personal
automobile travel picture” is that the Federal Government
is the largest single employer in the District of Columbia
area [38 Fed. Reg. 33704 (Dec. 6, 1974) ], thus it generates
much of the commuter automobile travel the Administra-
tor’s regulations are designed to limit, if not halt. If the
Administrator can get the commuters on the buses, a large
percentage will be there because they are federal employees,
and because of this federal action. Increasing the bus fleet
13
to handle the additional riders the Administrator is creating,
is certainly a federal problem, at least in part. The Ad-
ministrator claims to be following Congressional policy by
getting the commuters out of the automobiles and into the
buses. It is our position, however, that Congress did not say
the Commonwealth of Virginia should be obligated to spend
over $5,500,000 to carry out that Congressional policy.
The Administrator claims that he has the power to con-
trol the use of highways and streets of Virginia because the
Commonwealth in times past adopted certain transportation
policies which encouraged automobile travel, such as, build-
ing and maintaining highways, thus making automobile and
truck travel more efficient and safer, and, thereby, en-
couraging the use of motor vehicles for commerce and
pleasure. He most conveniently forgets, however, the federal
participation in, and encouragement of those policies. The
Congress, as a matter of federal policy, has declared that it
is in the national interest to accelerate the construction of
federal-aid highway systems. 23 U.S.C. §101(b) (1973)
[The policy here enunciated was enacted in 1958]. It must
be remembered that highways are not nuisances, per se, and
are used for other than commuting purposes. Federal par-
ticipation in the cost of constructing highways in Virginia
is justified, among other reasons, because of their need as
avenues in event of national emergencies.
If it is to be federal policy that highways and buses are
coterminous then this concept must be supported by federal
funds. It is unconscionable to allow the Administrator to
postulate that Congress has changed its well established
position and at the same time impose the entire obligation
for the resulting consequences on Virginia. Only the Federal
Government through Congressional action has the means
to satisfy the Administrator’s determinations. If Congress
does not see fit to provide buses, the Administrator may not
14
decide for himself that Congressional policy favors more
buses, and provide for them from the Treasury of Virginia.
Federal policies may modulate with each passing wind if
the cost and responsibilities of those changes may be shifted
by an Executive promulgation to the states or localities. If
the total cost is to fall upon the states, then we are saddled
with the worst of all possible governments: having the
strong national government of the present United States
Constitution, but the state financing of the Articles of Con-
federation.
If the states must be responsible for total funding, then
they may well assume they can assert authority over the
project thus purchased. If the states are to be merely tax
gathering organizations for the Executive branch of gov-
ernment, then Congress becomes merely an appendage of
the Executive will. Allowed to proceed in this unrestrained
manner, the Executive branch supersedes both the national
legislature and state government; consequently, the checks
and balances concept of our system of government is ren-
dered nugatory.
It cannot be that this is the New Federalism; assuredly,
it is no Old Federalism. Not only does it deny a republican
form of government to this State, but to the nation as well.
If such policies are not restrained by this Court, nothing
shall prevent the Executive branch, under the scope of an
act of Congress, from using such legislation as a springboard
to compel the states or localities to finance any conceivable
project. In the instant cases, since apparently in the lower
court’s reasoning the financial burden is unimportant (App.
A, p. 295), the Administrator would be just as readily
justified in ordering the three jurisdictions in question to
provide the entire balance of the financing for the WMATA
subway project as he did in directing the present action.
15
This issue is important, not just to Maryland, District of
Columbia, and Virginia, but to every state. The Clean Air
Act has only begun to be applied. The major urban areas
will be followed by the smaller urban areas, until eventually
every town and hamlet will have emission and transporta-
tion controls. It is a national problem which the states can-
not and should not finance. Notwithstanding this fact, unless
the Administrator is checked at this relatively early stage,
the trend of human nature will be to conjure up more and
more elaborate plans and controls. With no budget to limit
his promulgations, there will be no sense of proportion or
responsibility. Power without responsibility produces an
unhealthy situation, whether in the private or the public
sector.
There is no credible evidence that can assure anyone at
this particular stage in the study of the pollution problem
that, once sufficient buses are provided, the commuter will
utilize such transportation. It is an unconscionably expensive
test for Virginia, since, not only does she lose control over
her own budget and administration but can be financially
constricted at the capricious whim of a nonresponsive en-
tity. This Honorable Court is the only agency now available
to restore the balance which is essential to reestablish har-
monious state and federal cooperation in the solution of a
pervasive problem.
CONCLUSION
This case involves the interpretation of a federal statute
in such a way as to constitute a drastic invasion of traditional
state action. The degree of federal preemption affirmed by
the lower court, however, cannot be sustained on the basis of
either actual conflict with state laws, or an unmistakable
expression of statutory intent. In addition, the regulations
which compel the construction of bus lanes and the com-
16
mitments to purchase additional buses are an attempt to
extend the Administrator’s power to a degree which is statu-
torily and constitutionally impermissible. Finally, the deci-
sion in the instant case differs in significant aspects from the
decisions issued by other Circuit Courts of Appeals which
addressed essentially identical questions. For these reasons,
this Petition for a Writ of Certiorari should be granted.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDREW P. MILLER
Attorney General of Virginia
WALTER A. McFarLANE
Deputy Attorney General
J. THomas STEGER
Ricwarp K. C. SuTHERLAND
Assistant Attorneys General
Supreme Court Building
1101 E. Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
17
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Peti-
tion for a Writ of Certiorari was served by mailing three
true copies thereof, postage prepaid, to: The Solicitor
General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. 20530;
Robert V. Zener, General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, Washington, D. C. 20460; John C. Salyer,
Office of Corporation Counsel, District Building, Wash-
ington, D. C.; Martin A. Ferris, III, Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral, State of Maryland, O’Connor State Office Building,
201 W. Preston Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201 ; Stephen
M. Pratt, 4009 Chain Bridge Road, P. O. Box 537, Fairfax,
Virginia 22030; J. Howard Middleton, Jr., City Attorney’s
Office, 320 King Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, Virginia
22314, Clarence M. Ditlow, 1412 Foxhall Road, N.W.,
Washington, D. C. 20007, all on this the 23rd day of
January, 1976.
J. THomas STEGER
Assistant Attorney General
Commonwealth of Virginia
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.