A district court granted New York City's motion to remand to state court a climate deception lawsuit brought against fossil fuel companies. The city initially sued the companies in state court, arguing they violated the city's consumer protection law by misleading consumers about the impact of their...
A district court granted EPA's motion to dismiss for lack of redressability a climate liability lawsuit brought by a group of minors in California. The plaintiffs argued EPA violated their constitutional rights by intentionally allowing dangerous levels of pollution to enter the atmosphere from sour...
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...
For more than half a century, the Chesapeake Bay and many of its tributaries have suffered from poor water quality. Compelled by an executive order and litigation, in 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (Bay TMDL) to reduce pollution discharges and thereby restore Bay water quality; unfortunately, the Bay TMDL will fail to meet its 2025 objective.
More severe storms and rising sea levels pose a threat to U.S. coastal communities, including millions of homes and businesses. Insured damages to coastal property are steadily increasing, insurance premiums are increasing, and private insurance companies have stopped serving some coastal states. Taken together, the consequences of declining availability and increasing costs constitute a coastal property insurance crisis.
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.
United States v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., No. 4:23-cv-00517 (N.D. Ohio May 23, 2024). In connection with the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a proposed consent decree requires a settling CWA and CERCLA defendant to (1) reimburse all response costs incurred by the United States; (2) pay a civil penalty of $15 million; (3) establish a $25 million community health program for qualifying members of the public impacted by the derailment; (4) implement an array of specified rail safety procedures; (5) develop and adopt programs for coordination of rail track restoration and vent and burn procedures; (6) implement a $6 million local waterways remediation plan; (7) pay $175,000 for natural resource damages; and (8) implement compliance and future monitoring requirements.
EPA proposed a regulatory framework for states and public water systems to identify and assess restructuring alternatives to ensure that every community receives safe, affordable, and reliable drinking water.
EPA revised the Consumer Confidence Report Rule in accordance with America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to require states, territories, and tribes with primary enforcement responsibility to report compliance monitoring data for all national primary drinking water regulations to the Agency.
NOAA and EPA seek comment on the agencies’ proposed finding that Alabama has satisfied each of the conditions the agencies included as part of their 1998 approval of Alabama’s coastal nonpoint pollution control program.