The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review EPA's promulgation of a rule that regulates the emission of greenhouse gases from aircraft engines under CAA §231 by aligning domestic standards with those recently promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Twelve states, the Di...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review EPA's revisions to designations promulgated in 2018 for northern Weld County, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas, as areas that had attained 2015 ozone pollution standards. The revised designations folded Weld County into the greater ...
The D.C. Circuit, in a split ruling, vacated certain provisions of EPA's rule phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Two companies and three trade groups argued EPA exceeded its authority in issuing the rule and that the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which directed the ...
In an unpublished order, the Fifth Circuit, 2-1, stayed EPA's disapproval of SIPs submitted by Texas and Louisiana following the Agency's 2015 revision to the ozone NAAQS. The states moved for a stay pending review of EPA's disapproval. The court found a stay was appropriate because the states made ...
A district court granted in part and denied in part North Dakota's motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit concerning BLM's "pause" on nearly all quarterly lease sales of federal land in the state for oil and gas exploration in 2021 and 2022. North Dakota argued the "pause" or "cancellation" ...
The D.C Circuit denied an industry group's challenge to EPA's 2021 rule requiring power plants in several upwind states to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The group argued the rule was arbitrary and capricious, and that EPA failed to conduct a legally and technically appropriate assessment as requi...
A district court denied emergency motions brought by environmental groups, ranchers, and tribes to halt construction of a lithium mine near Thacker Pass, Nevada, pending appeal. The plaintiffs initially argued BLM's approval of the mine violated FLPMA, NEPA, and the National Historic Preservation Ac...
The Sixth Circuit granted a petition to review EPA's removal of an air nuisance rule from Ohio's SIP. Environmental groups and individuals argued that EPA violated the CAA and APA in removing the rule. EPA moved to remand without vacatur to review its removal of the rule. The court found that vacatu...
The Fifth Circuit granted small refiners' motion to stay certain compliance obligations under the CAA pending appeal of EPA's decision denying their requested hardship exemptions from the Act's Renewable Fuel Standard obligations. The refiners argued EPA's late 2021 interpretation of CAA provisions ...
A district court granted summary judgment for an oil and gas company in a decades-long suit concerning the company's oil lease on land sacred to the Blackfeet Nation in Lewis and Clark National Forest. On the latest remand from the appellate court, the company challenged the Secretary of DOI's 2016 ...