Energy Policy Advocates v. United States Department of State
A district court granted summary judgment for the State Department in a lawsuit concerning documents related to the agency's handling of the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. A nonprofit group filed a FOIA request, seeking three documents concerning the "Circular 175" process for the agreement. The Depa...
Federal Environmental Justice Legislation and Regulations
With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and Water Resources Development Act of 2022, the statutory landscape has changed to reflect the Biden Administration’s emphasis on environmental justice. On February 27, 2023, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and ELI’s Pro Bono Clearinghouse co-hosted a panel of experts who explored how communities can leverage the statutory changes that have taken place, what decisions have been left up to agencies, and how proposed legislation, like the Environmental Justice for All Act, will affect future environmental justice efforts.
WildEarth Guardians v. United States Forest Service
The Ninth Circuit dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to the Forest Service's livestock grazing decisions in Colville National Forest. Environmental groups argued the decisions would lead to an increase in wolf attacks on livestock, which in turn would cause the Washington Department of Fish ...
Arizona v. Navajo Nation
The U.S. Supreme Court held, 5-4, that an 1868 peace treaty between the Navajo Nation and the United States establishing the Navajo Reservation reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the reservation, but did not require the U.S. government to take affirmative steps to secure water for...
Klamath Irrigation District
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, denied a municipal irrigation district's request to compel a district court to remand to state court its motion for preliminary injunction in a suit concerning water allocation in the Klamath Basin. The district initially sought to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from releasin...
Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. United States Forest Service
A district court granted in part and denied in part an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a CWA citizen suit concerning the Forest Service's discharge of aerially deployed fire retardant into navigable waters of the United States without an NPDES permit. The group argued the Servic...
Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Supreme Court held that the CWA extends to only those "wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are 'waters of the United States' in their own right," such that they are indistinguishable from those waters, in a challenge to an EPA compliance order stating that landowner...
GPA Midstream Ass'n v. United States Department of Transportation
The D.C. Circuit granted oil and gas groups' petition to review a Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) safety standard that requires their members to install remote-controlled or automatic shut-off valves in some types of new or replaced gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. ...