Cal. Cmty. Against Toxics v. Envtl. Prot. Agency

Dissenting Opinion filed by Circuit Judge Rogers.

Wilkins, Circuit Judge.

This case asks us to determine the nature of an agency action, an inquiry that - paradoxically - is quotidian but abstruse. When we are confronted with agency action, the litany of questions is by now very well-rehearsed: Is it final? Is it ripe? Is it a policy statement? Is it an interpretive rule? Is it a legislative rule? Despite the clarity of these questions, however, predictable answers have eluded courts and commentators. See, e.g., Perez v. Mortg. Bankers Ass'n. , --- U.S. ----, 135 S. Ct. 1199, 1204, 191 L.Ed.2d…