The D.C. Circuit held 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 regulations requiring firms...
The D.C. Circuit upheld the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission's finding that SeaWorld violated the OSH Act by exposing trainers to recognized hazards when working in close contact with killer whales during performances. The Commission's finding came after the death of one of SeaWorld'...
A district court held that Minnesota's New Generation Energy Act, which establishes energy and environmental standards related to carbon dioxide emissions, constitutes impermissible extraterritorial legislation and is a per se violation of the dormant Commerce Clause. The statute's plain language ap...
A New Jersey appellate court held that the state's Department of Environmental Protection violated the New Jersey APA when it withdrew from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program. In 2011, the state posted a notice on the Department's website that is was withdrawing from the RGGI prog...
A district court upheld the constitutionality of a New York county's solid waste flow control ordinance that directs all solid waste generated within the county to designated publicly owned but privately operated processing facilities. Solid waste companies alleged that, by preventing non-designated...
The Ninth Circuit held that BLM did not violate NEPA or FLPMA when it approved the expansion of a gold mine near Nevada's Mount Tenabo. Native American tribes claimed that BLM failed to address mitigation measures specific to groundwater in situ, failed to propose new mitigation measures relating to...
The Federal Claims Court awarded a Florida developer $4 million after finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of the developer's §404 permit request to dredge and fill a five-acre plot of land effected a compensable taking. The Federal Circuit had previously ruled on appeal that the f...
The Supreme Court of South Carolina reinstated an administrative law court (ALC) decision that reversed and denied a state agency's issuance of a permit for a construction and demolition landfill. The ALC denied the permit based on its conclusion that the region already had more landfill capacity th...
The D.C. Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision rejecting an animal rights group's FOIA request for records concerning National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigations of animal abuse at a university research lab. NIH issued "Glomar" responses, meaning that the agency...
The D.C. Circuit held that an EPA employee's lawsuit against the Agency for allegedly retaliating against him in violation of several environmental whistleblowing provisions was untimely. In 2000, the employee was working in EPA's ombudsman office. Following a pattern of controversial behavior at a ...