Weekly Cases Update Volume 44, Issue 9

The cases listed below appear in the most recent issue of ELR's Weekly Update. For cases previously reported, please use the filter on the left.

Volume 44, Issue 19

ELR 20145130, 131(N.Y., )

New York's highest court held that local governments may ban oil and gas production activities, including hydraulic fracturing, through the adoption of local zoning laws. The case arose after two towns enacted zoning laws banning hydraulic fracturing within their jurisdictions.

Keywords:
Zoning, Land use, Hydraulic Fracturing
ELR 201493:12-cv-1458(M.D. Pa., )

A district court held that a doctor lacks standing to challenge a Pennsylvania law that prohibits doctors from disclosing the mixture of chemical fluids used during hydraulic fracturing when treating patients for chemical exposure.

Keywords:
Free speech, Constitutional law, Hydraulic Fracturing
ELR 2014712-1470(D.C. Cir., )

The D.C. Circuit held that it lacks jurisdiction over petitions for review of a FERC order granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction of a natural gas pipeline connecting New York and New Jersey.

Keywords:
Energy (generally), Permits
ELR 201482014 CO 63(Colo., )

The Colorado Supreme Court upheld ballot initiatives that would expand local governments' authority to enact laws regulating oil and gas development that are more restrictive than state law.

Keywords:
Constitutional law
ELR 2014313-cv-339(S.D. Cal., )

A district court held that BLM complied with NEPA when it issued a programmatic EIS for utility-scale solar energy projects in six southwestern states.

Keywords:
Energy (generally), Programmatic EIS
ELR 2014198-1379(D.C. Cir., )

The D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's comparable fuels exclusion, which exempts all fuels deemed comparable to non-hazardous waste-derived fossil fuels from the requirements set forth in RCRA §3004(q).

Keywords:
Burning of hazardous waste for fuel, §3004(q)
ELR 2014208-1145, 12-1295(D.C. Cir., )

The D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's gasification exclusion rule, which exempts from RCRA certain hazardous residuals left over from the petroleum refining process.

Keywords:
Identification and listing, §3001, Burning of hazardous waste for fuel, §3004(q)
ELR 2015012-1256(D.C. Cir., )

The D.C. Circuit denied a petition for review challenging EPA's decision to add property formerly owned by a manufacturing company to the NPL. The company argued that in listing the site, EPA failed to properly consider and analyze relevant data.

Keywords:
Listing of sites
ELR 2014613-40317(5th Cir., )

The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision barring the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from issuing new permits to withdraw water from rivers that feed the estuary where wild whooping cranes make their winter home.

Keywords:
Incidental taking, Whooping cranes