The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, reversed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its approval of a mineral exploration project on land in Inyo National Forest. Environmental groups argued the Service violated NEPA by combing two categorical exclusions (CEs) when neither alone could be invo...
The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed two district courts' orders remanding to state court lawsuits brought by Louisiana parishes against various oil and gas companies. The parishes initially sued in state court, arguing the companies violated Louisiana’s State and Local Coastal Resources Management Ac...
The Fifth Circuit dismissed for lack of standing four states' challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission's final rule requiring funds to disclose their votes on environmental, social, and governance matters. Texas, Louisiana, Utah, and West Virginia argued they had suffered injury as invest...
The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to renewable fuels standards EPA set for 2020, 2021, and 2022. Cellulosic biofuel producers argued the standards were set too low, and petroleum refiners argued they were set too high. Specifically, the biofuel producers argued EPA misinterpreted or unreasonably ...
SIP Approval: Kentucky (revisions to geographical boundary description and attainment status designation for the Henderson-Webster 2010 primary sulfur dioxide nonattainment area).
SIP Proposal: Georgia (regional haze).
SIP Proposal: District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (revisions to motor vehicle emissions budgets and onroad and nonroad mobile emissions for volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides for years 2025 and 2030).
SIP Proposal: Nebraska (miscellaneous changes).
The Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations relating to the clean electricity production credit and the clean electricity investment credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to provide rules for determining greenhouse gas emissions rates resulting from the production of electricity; petitioning for provisional emissions rates; and determining eligibility for these credits in various circumstances.
United States v. PSF, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-00112 (D. Alaska May 24, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CWA defendants that allegedly violated the conditions and limitations of their NPDES permits at their facilities in Valdez and King Cove, Alaska, must perform injunctive relief and pay $750,000 in civil penalties.