Court finds RGGI withdrawal is “unlawful and without effect”

Photo credit: VA Conservation Network

This week the Circuit Court of Floyd County found that the Youngkin administration’s withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) was unlawful. The court ruled that the attempted withdraw was “unlawful and without effect,” supporting a fundamental principle of administrative law: that executive branch actions must adhere to the limits of statutory authority.

The General Assembly’s mandate for Virginia to participate in RGGI cannot lawfully be overridden unilaterally by the executive branch. The court’s finding that the withdrawal was “without effect” means that Virginia should have been a participant in RGGI throughout this period, regardless of the governor’s attempts to exceed his constitutional authority.

This ruling sets an important precedent which reaffirms the separation of powers and the supremacy of legislative directives in environmental governance. Wetlands Watch is grateful for SELC’s leadership in successfully representing the petitioner in this landmark case.

Youngkin's illegal withdrawal from RGGI has potentially left millions of dollars on the table that could have been spent reducing flood risk across the Commonwealth. This decision gets us one step closer to securing reliable funding for Virginia's Community Flood Preparedness Fund.

Read more about this history of this case and why we’re following it.