The NAM and 17 other business associations moved to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) against the EPA over the agency's interpretation of when greenhouse gases become "subject to regulation" (STR) under the Clean Air Act. CBD is expected to argue that greenhouse gases were already subject to regulation before EPA issued the "Johnson memo" in 2008 and a subsequent STR rule in April, 2010. If such a claim is accepted by a federal court, thousands of members of the business associations could be forced to obtain permits for new or existing facilities and to install costly control technology to try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
On July 18, 2014, after the Supreme Court's decision in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, this case was voluntarily dismissed.