A district court largely dismissed claims challenging California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, a collection of regulations promulgated by the California Air Resources Board to implement provisions of California Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. In September 2013, the Ninth Ci...
The D.C. Circuit reaffirmed its prior decision that the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) "conflict materials" rule violates the First Amendment. SEC issued the rule in 2012 pursuant to §1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires SEC to issue re...
A California court held that revised "curtailment letters" that the state water board sent to irrigation districts and water appropriators in the Central Valley no longer violate due process, and therefore denied the districts' motions for a preliminary injunction. The court previously ruled that th...
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...
The Ninth Circuit upheld California's "shark fin law", which bans the possession, sale, and distribution of shark fins within the state. An association claimed that the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act preempts the law. But they failed to identify any actual conflict between ...
A district court held that an Idaho "ag-gag" law that criminalizes undercover investigations of agricultural production operations violates the U.S. Constitution. Under the law, a journalist or animal rights investigator can be convicted for not disclosing his media or political affiliations when re...
A California court denied an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin emergency regulations governing the underground injection of wastewater produced by oil drilling. The emergency regulations establish a timeline for companies to stop injecting into certain wells, but it still gives so...
A California court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the state water board from enforcing "curtailment letters" it sent to four irrigation districts in the Central Valley. The letters ordered the districts and various farmers and businesses to stop diverting water from California's riv...
The Tenth Circuit upheld on constitutional grounds Colorado's mandate that 20% of the electricity that generators sell to Colorado consumers come from renewable sources. A conservative energy group claimed that the renewable energy standard will harm out-of-state coal producers in violation of the C...
A district court dismissed Pennsylvania's public nuisance, trespass, and Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law claims against various refiners, manufacturers, marketers, distributors, and suppliers of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive. The case is part ...