The South Carolina Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision dismissing a group's declaratory judgment action against a developer for filling isolated wetlands on its property without a permit. The lower court, relying on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Coo...

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, reversed a lower court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service in a case challenging its approval of four timber logging projects in the Tongass National Forest. The Forest Service failed to adequately explain it decisi...

A district court held that EPA's approval of a sediments and total suspended solids (TSS) TMDL for the Anacostia River in Maryland and Washington, D.C., was arbitrary and capricious. When developing a TMDL for a particular pollutant, the CWA and its implementing regulations require the state—in de...

The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service may charge visitors to Mt. Evans an "amenity fee" under the Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). Plaintiffs, outdoor enthusiasts, argued that the fee exceeds the Service's statutory authority under the REA. But to prevail in a facial challenge to an a...

The D.C. Circuit denied trade associations' petition for review of a nationwide permit issued by EPA for the discharge of pollutants incidental to the normal operation of vessels. The associations, which represent commercial ship owners and operators, raised a number of procedural challenges, al...

The Ninth Circuit held that environmental groups may intervene in a citizen suit against the U.S. Forest Service concerning restricted motorized and mechanized vehicle use in a section of the Gallatin National Forest. In the underlying action, the citizens group argued that the Forest Service's plan...

A district court held that the Secretary of the Interior violated FLPMA and the APA when he withdrew a record of decision (ROD) adopting six revised resource management plans, collectively known as the Western Oregon Plan Revisions, for 2.5 million acres of BLM lands in western Oregon. The S...

The Federal Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' temporary deviations from the water release rates set forth in an operating plan for the Clearwater Dam that caused increased flooding in Arkansas' Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area, which in turn caused excess...

The Ninth Circuit upheld, on statutory and constitutional grounds, California's vessel fuel rules as they apply to vessels located more than three miles off the California coast. The rules, which seek to reduce air pollutants affecting the state of California, require ocean-going vessels to ...

A district court held that insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify a city in over two dozen underlying lawsuits alleging that the city delivered contaminated tap water to its residents. The insurance policies at issue contain pollution exclusion clauses. Under Illinois law, a pollution exclusio...