A district court upheld an SEC rule imposing certain disclosure requirements for companies that use "conflict minerals" originating in and around the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Manufacturing groups argued that the rule's requirement that companies publish their conflict minerals disclosures o...

The D.C. Circuit ordered the Maryland Department of Environment to act on a natural gas company's application to construct a natural gas compressor station in the state. The company applied for and received a certificate of public convenience and necessity from FERC. But before it can begin construc...

A California appellate court held that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) violated the California APA and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it adopted its Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) regulations to reduce the carbon content of transportation fuels sold, supplied, or of...

The Tenth Circuit upheld an EPA rule in which it rejected Oklahoma's regional haze plan to limit sulfur dioxide emissions at electric utility power plants and replaced it with its own more stringent regulations via a federal implementation plan (FIP). Petitioners—the state of Oklahoma, the utility...

The Fourth Circuit held that the discovery rule set forth in CERCLA §309 preempts North Carolina's 10-year limitation on the accrual of real property claims. The case arose after landowners filed a nuisance action against a corporation for allegedly contaminating their well water with concentrated ...

A California appellate court upheld a county ordinance banning single-use plastic bags and imposing a fee on single-use paper bags against claims that the ordinance was enacted in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The county determined that the ordinance was categorically...

A Colorado appellate court held that under state law, a trial court may not order plaintiffs in a toxic tort case to present prima facie evidence supporting their claims after initial disclosures, but before full discovery begins, or risk having their case dismissed. The case arose after homeowners ...

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed and remanded a lower court decision awarding $375,000 in damages to beachfront property owners whose oceanfront view was obstructed by a dune built to serve as a barrier from powerful storms and ocean surges. A city used its power of eminent domain to constru...

A district court vacated an SEC rule that requires certain companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments in connection with the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals. The rule was promulgated in response to §13(q) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Prot...

A district court granted environmental groups' motion to intervene in a landowner's lawsuit challenging FWS' critical habitat designation for the dusky gopher frog in portions of Louisiana and Mississippi. The landowner, who owns property that falls within the designation, argued that the designatio...