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Justices reject appeal of Kavanaugh environmental ruling

09 of October 2018

President Donald Trump, Chief Justice John Roberts, seated left, and justices of the Supreme Court, listen to Justice Brett Kavanaugh speak during the ceremonial swearing-in ceremony of Kavanaugh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Kavanaugh is accompanied by his wife Ashley Kavanaugh, right, and children Margaret, fourth from right, and Liza, third from right. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta),President Donald Trump, Chief Justice John Roberts, seated left, and justices of the Supreme Court, listen to Justice Brett Kavanaugh speak during the ceremonial swearing-in ceremony of Kavanaugh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Kavanaugh is accompanied by his wife Ashley Kavanaugh, right, and children Margaret, fourth from right, and Liza, third from right. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is declining to review an environmental ruling written by Brett Kavanaugh in his former role as an appeals court judge.

The justices on Tuesday left in place an August 2017 ruling the new Supreme Court justice wrote that struck down an Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency rule. That rule was intended to limit the release of a class of chemicals that contribute to global warming.

Kavanaugh wrote that EPA lacks the authority to regulate the chemicals under a part of the Clean Air Act that addresses ozone-depleting chemicals.

The chemicals are hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. They are industrial chemicals primarily used in cooling that replaced ozone-eating compounds.

The Trump administration says it agrees with the appellate ruling and that a new rule is in the works.