Upon first glance, the list of cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing oral argument during the next year does not appear to offer anything of interest to environmental practitioners. The court’s prior term, which began in October 2013, offered a pair of blockbuster Clean Air Act cases involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate interstate air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The term before that, the justices took up questions involving the interpretation of important terms used in the Clean Water Act. At first glance, it seems like the court is not currently offering much to excite the environmental bar.

Take a closer look, though. At the beginning of December, the justices are set to hear argument in a pair of consolidated cases—Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association, No. 13-1041, and Nickols v. Mortgage Bankers Association, No. 13-1052—that could have a profound effect on how the EPA interprets and enforces its regulations. These cases involve, oddly enough, a dispute over how mortgage brokers are classified for the purposes of federal wage protections. The Supreme Court has granted review on a single question: whether a federal agency must go through notice and comment proceedings when it significantly revises a definitive interpretation of one of its regulations.

The Law Today: Paralyzed Veterans and Its Progeny

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