The Ninth Circuit granted in part environmental groups' petition to review EPA's decision refusing to revise technology-based effluent limits, guidelines, and standards (ELGs) for certain industries previously promulgated under the CWA. The groups challenged EPA's decision refusing to revise ELGs fo...
A district court denied summary judgment for a company that owns and manages Iowa farmland in a lawsuit concerning a federal wetland conservation law known as Swampbuster. The company challenged the program, which disqualifies one from receiving USDA farm benefits if they convert certified wetl...
The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, reversed a district court's summary judgment for the State Department in a FOIA lawsuit seeking records related to the Department's efforts to support the 2030 emissions reduction target in the Paris Agreement. A nonprofit group submitted a 10-part FOIA request, seeking ...
A district court enjoined construction on a dam expansion project in Colorado in environmental groups' challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a dredge and fill permit. The court previously held the Corps failed to comply with the CWA and NEPA when it issued the permit. The court subse...
The Sixth Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's (TDEC's) order issuing a water quality certification for a proposed fossil gas pipeline in Tennessee. The groups argued TDEC arbitrarily and capriciously determined that ...
The Fifth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a discrimination challenge brought against St. James Parish in Louisiana. Two faith- and community-based groups argued the Parish had discriminated against them by directing hazardous industrial facility development toward majority-Black dis...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed denial of summary judgment for two Native American tribes and an environmental group in a challenge to a CWA §404 permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers to expand operations at an oil export terminal on Texas' Gulf Coast. The tribes and group sought to invalidate th...
Tribal groups argued NMFS violated NEPA in adopting the harvest specifications because they relied on outdated EISs despite dramatic changes to the ecosystem that necessitated an updated environmental analysis. The court found the specifications were not arbitrary and capricious because NMFS conclud...
The U.S. Supreme Court held, 5-4, that the CWA does not authorize EPA to include "end-result" provisions in NPDES permits, in a lawsuit concerning the Agency's issuance of a renewal permit for the city of San Francisco that added two such requirements. The city petitioned for review, arguing the req...
A district court granted the Army Corps of Engineers' motion to dismiss a developer's challenge to the Corps' 2012 jurisdictional determination over certain wetlands in Virginia. The developer challenged the Corps' significant nexus finding between the wetlands and the Northwest River, arguing the s...