The Sixth Circuit held that the CAA does not preempt property owners' state common-law tort claims against a whiskey distillery for excess ethanol emissions that allegedly caused "whiskey fungus" to grow on their properties. Below, the district court rejected the distillery's argument that the CAA p...

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's designation of Yellowstone County, Montana, and Wayne County, Michigan, as "nonattainment" under the sulfur dioxide (SO2) NAAQS. Two petitioners—an industry association and a steel company—challenged the designations, albeit for different reasons. The industry assoc...

A district court upheld Oregon's clean fuels program, which seeks to reduce lifecycle emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from transportation fuels by 10% over a 10-year period. Trade associations argued that the program was unconstitutional because it discriminates against out-of-state commerce. Bu...

The Third Circuit vacated and remanded EPA's approval of Pennsylvania's 2014 regional haze SIP. CAA §169A requires states to evaluate the impact that emissions from certain sources of pollution within their borders have on atmospheric visibility in national parks and wilderness areas, known as Clas...

The Fifth Circuit reversed an oil company's convictions for violating the CAA and Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in connection with its wastewater treatment system at its Corpus Christi refinery. The company was convicted for knowingly operating two uncovered tanks as oil-water separators without ...

The Seventh Circuit upheld EPA's approval of revisions to Illinois' SIP, thereby rejecting challenges raised by Indiana. Indiana argued that the relaxation of Illinois' vehicle emissions testing program will decrease the likelihood that the Chicago area—which includes two Indiana counties—will a...

A district court held that it lacks jurisdiction over Oklahoma's lawsuit against EPA challenging its proposed emission standards for coal-fired power plants. The state argues that the proposed emission standards, if adopted as a final rule, would constitute an ultra vires action in violation of the ...

The D.C. Circuit, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, invalidated EPA's 2014 emissions budgets under the transport rule, also known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, as applied to various states. The CAA's "good neighbor" provision requires upwind states to prevent sources within their borde...

The D.C. Circuit denied petitions challenging an EPA regulation that revised the NESHAP for hexavalent chromium, a carcinogenic compound that gets emitted into the air during the chrome-finishing process. The new rule, issued in 2012, imposes more stringent emissions limitations than its predecessor...

The D.C. Circuit upheld an EPA regulation that requires automobile manufacturers to use "commercially available" fuel when testing the emissions of new vehicles under the CAA. Several producers of E30, a fuel that contains 30% ethanol, argued that a fuel shouldn't have to be commercially available i...