# *Browner v. American Trucking Association*

October 1, 2000 • Legal Briefs 

By [Robert A. Levy](https://www.cato.org/people/robert-levy), [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch), [Roger Pilon](https://www.cato.org/people/roger-pilon), & [Ronald D. Rotunda](https://www.cato.org/people/ronald-rotunda) 

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Learn more about [Cato’s Amicus Briefs Program](/about/cato-amicus-program).

Cato’s brief, joined by the Institute for Justice, argues that Section 109(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act is unconstitutional when applied to non-threshold pollutants, because the Act does not supply the Environmental Protection Agency with a method by which to determine if these pollutants are allowable according to its Ambient Air Quality Standards. Specifically, the brief asserts that Congress violated the non-delegation doctrine here, thereby jeopardizing the separation of powers that the Framers believed was essential to the protection of individual liberty. By failing to provide clear guidelines concerning non-threshold pollutants, Congress failed to set forth an intelligible principle with which to guide the EPA’s actions. Because of the non-delegation doctrine, in this case the EPA does not have the power to set these thresholds itself.

[![Media Name: brownervtrucking.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/pubs/covers/brownervtrucking.jpg?itok=dJMAFvYQ)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/brownervtrucking.pdf) 

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##### *Browner v. American Trucking Association* 

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##### About the Authors 

[![Robert A. Levy](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Bob%20Levy.jpg?itok=1qcg49xJ)](/people/robert-levy) 

##### [Robert A. Levy](/people/robert-levy)

Chairman Emeritus, Cato Institute

[ 

](mailto:rlevy@cato.org) 

[![Media Name: timlynch-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/timlynch-cropped.jpg?itok=k28xFe9B)](/people/tim-lynch) 

##### [Tim Lynch](/people/tim-lynch)

Former Adjunct Scholar and Former Director, Project on Criminal Justice 

[ 

](https://twitter.com/CatoTimLynch) [ 

](mailto:tlynch@cato.org) 

[![Roger Pilon](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Roger%20Pilon.jpg?itok=cmI-eTjr)](/people/roger-pilon) 

##### [Roger Pilon](/people/roger-pilon)

Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies

[ 

](https://x.com/Roger_Pilon) [ 

](mailto:rpilon@cato.org) 

[![Media Name: rotunda.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/rotunda.jpg?itok=on8Ao6iu)](/people/ronald-rotunda) 

##### [Ronald D. Rotunda](/people/ronald-rotunda)

Former Senior Fellow 

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

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