Supreme Court rejects petition to review LCFS

The US Supreme Court has declined to take up a challenge to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeal's September 2013 ruling on California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).

That ruling found that the LCFS programme is constitutional, overturning a previous ruling stating that it violates interstate commerce laws.

In March, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy sent a petition to the Supreme Court requesting that they review the lower court's decision and then in April, a group of 21 states filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit court's ruling.

The ongoing legal battle regarding the constitution of the LCFS programme was first challenged in late 2009, when the RFA and Growth Energy filed a complaint in the federal district court in Fresno, California. The court agreed, and in late 2011 ruled that the LCFS was unconstitutional because it violated the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. This was then appealed and sent to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the district court's ruling, stating that the LCFS does not facially discriminate against out-of-state commerce.