A district court held that environmental groups are entitled to injunctive relief and civil penalties in their CWA citizen suit against a coal company for violating the water quality standards for selenium set forth in its permit. Although an enforcement action was already ongoing in state court...

A district court enjoined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from continuing with its Industrial Canal Lock Replacement Project in New Orleans until it complies with NEPA and the CWA. The canal is a manmade waterway that provides access from Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway to...

The Seventh Circuit denied various states' motion to issue a preliminary injunction compelling the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the emigration of invasive silver and bighead carp through the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan. The states presented sufficient evidence to d...

The Tenth Circuit held that Oklahoma statutes that favor in-state water appropriation permit applicants over out-of-state permit applicants do not violate the Commerce Clause. The case arose after a Texas water district sought permits to appropriate water from Oklahoma for use in Texas. Because Okla...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' suit for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' nationwide permitting program, and, specifically, its use throughout the Appalachian region to issue permits for mining activities. The groups alleged CWA, N...

The D.C. Circuit vacated the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') methodology for tracking bycatch in the fisheries off the Northeastern coast of the United States. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act, requires the NMF...