The D.C. Circuit upheld an EPA rule that classified as "recycled" certain hazardous material sent to a third-party reclamation facility and thus exempted the material from RCRA regulations governing discarded waste. Environmental groups argued the rule violated RCRA because material that a generator...

A state high court affirmed a partial summary judgment for landowners in a challenge to an oil company's use of their land to extract natural gas from neighboring properties. The landowners argued that the company's lease did not allow it to use their land to extract oil and gas from neighboring min...

The D.C. Circuit vacated the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) 2018 amendment to a 2017 safety standard that required mine operators to examine areas before miners began work and record any conditions that could adversely affect workers' safety and health. Union groups argued the amen...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a challenge to the use of lead ammunition in Kaibab National Forest. Environmental groups sought to require the U.S. Forest Service to address the use of lead ammunition by hunters in the national forest, alleging the the Service's failure t...

A district court denied the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA's) motion to dismiss a challenge to the agency's pipeline inspection regulations. An environmental group argued that PHMSA's existing regulations did not encompass all oil and gas pipelines that crossed feder...

A district court denied a city's motion for a preliminary injunction in a RCRA lawsuit against two utility companies that owned a long-abandoned manufactured gas plant. The city alleged that the plant had contaminated soil in a nearby park and around a decommissioned water main, and sought to requir...

A district court granted residents' motion for summary judgment in a RCRA lawsuit against the city of New Orleans for inhumane and dangerous living conditions at a residential development located on a former landfill site previously operated by the city. The residents argued that the city had previo...

A district court denied EPA's motions to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two states and a Native American tribe seeking to recover response costs from the 2015 Gold King mine spill that sent millions of gallons of acid mine drainage into the Animas and San Juan Rivers. EPA argued that it retained sover...

A state appellate court reversed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's order denying an oil and gas permit to a real estate company to drill an exploratory oil well in the Everglades. The company argued that the Department erred in substituting its factual findings for the administrat...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court's decision in a challenge to a natural gas pipeline company's expired easement on tribal land. The pipeline company appealed the district court's granting of summary judgment to tribal members on their trespass claims, arguing tha...