The D.C. Circuit granted EPA's motion to dismiss an industry group's challenge to interim lifetime health advisories for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. The court found that the group identified alleged harm facing an indirect subsidiary of one of its members, but failed t...
The Tenth Circuit upheld a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Trump that disapproved the Stream Protection Rule, which was adopted by DOI under the Obama Administration. Nonprofit groups argued that the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which Congress used to repeal the rule, ...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's remand to state court of a lawsuit concerning dredging operations in a ship channel near Corpus Christi. The port authority sued a dredging company in state court, alleging that the company's operations resulted in physical trespass and encroachments on ...
The Fifth Circuit denied a petition to review a CWA permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers authorizing development of a natural gas pipeline and export facility in south Texas. A group of shrimpers and fishermen argued the permit violated the CWA by failing to show that the approved project wa...
The D.C. Circuit vacated a license issued by FERC for operation of a hydroelectric dam on the Susquehanna River in Maryland. The state of Maryland issued a CWA §401(a)(1) certification to the dam's operator in 2018 with conditions. The operator challenged the certification, and the parties reached ...
Numerous cities, states, and counties have sued fossil fuel companies, with claims based on evidence found in the companies’ own internal documents and statements. These companies have argued their public statements are protected by the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and right to petition clauses. This Article describes the current litigation, discusses the companies’ statements disseminated through various sources, and summarizes U.S. Supreme Court precedent and caselaw on commercial speech.
October 18, 2022, marked the anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the primary federal law governing pollution control and quality of the waters of the United States. Though the Act has achieved vital successes, whether they can be sustained and how further progress can be made remain fundamental questions. On October 25, 2022, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts at its 2022 Annual Policy Forum to evaluate the past 50 years of the CWA, while looking ahead to the next 50 years.
A district court held that hundreds of Louisiana residents seeking damages in a mass tort action concerning landfill emissions in Jefferson Parish established general causation. The court found the residents proved by a preponderance of the evidence that gases and odors were emitted from the landfil...
A district court granted summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to a 2019 rule requiring turtle excluder devices on skimmer trawl vessels greater than 40 feet in length in inshore waters. The final rule was published on December 20, 2019, with an effective date of April 1, 2021, but NMFS issued a ...
A district court granted bottling companies' motion to dismiss a deceptive marketing challenge to their "100% recyclable" labels. Consumers and an environmental group argued the labels were false and misleading because most plastic bottles are not recycled. The companies moved to dismiss for lack of...