The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, denied petitions to review EPA's 2016 designation of two counties in Texas as nonattainment for the 2010 sulfur dioxide NAAQS. The state of Texas and the owner of a power plant located in one of the counties sought to have the designation vacated, arguing it violated the CAA ...
The Fourth Circuit, 2-1, granted West Virginia's motion to stay EPA's disapproval of its SIP addressing "good neighbor" obligations under the revised 2015 air quality standards for ozone. EPA's disapproval found the state would still contribute significantly to nonattainment or interfere with mainte...
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court finding of a CWA violation in a citizen suit brought against the operator of a gold mine in Colorado. Plaintiffs argued the operator violated the CWA because seepage from the mine's settling ponds flowed into the groundwater and then migrated to the Middle...
The Fifth Circuit vacated a district court ruling in a decades-long dispute over whether a property in Louisiana contains federally regulated wetlands. The property owner sued the Army Corps of Engineers, arguing its determination that the property contained federal regulated wetlands was arbitrary ...
Congress in the 2020s has authorized three new environmentally focused grant programs relating to western waters and appropriated $450 million in multi-year funding. The Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for creating and implementing these programs, giving it a new tool and resources for addressing stubborn environmental problems—some caused by the Bureau’s many dams.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for an environmental group in a suit against a California resident who engaged in instream suction dredge mining in Idaho’s South Fork Clearwater River without an NPDES permit. The group argued the resident violated the CWA each time he operated a suctio...
The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, granted six small refineries' petitions to review an EPA decision denying their requested exemptions from obligations under the CAA Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The refineries challenged two actions—EPA's denial of 36 petitions from 36 small refineries seeking exe...
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a direct final rule that revised the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition rule. This rule amended the final WOTUS rule, previously published in January 2023, to be consistent with the Supreme Court’s May decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. On September 14, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts to analyze the new rule and discuss its regulatory and policy consequences.
A district court denied the city of New Orleans' motion to remand to state court its lawsuit against oil companies for allegedly damaging coastal wetlands with their operations. The city initially sued the companies in state court, arguing they violated the Louisiana State and Local Coastal Resource...
The Fifth Circuit vacated the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's (TCEQ's) order granting a PSD permit for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Texas. An environmental group petitioned for review, arguing TCEQ erred by not imposing the same emissions limits for carbon monoxide and n...