The Fourth Circuit denied a petition to review the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ's) and the State Water Control Board's approval of a state water permit for a proposed pipeline that would transport natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. Environmental groups argued...

A district court granted in part an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to NMFS' 2021 permit authorizing the incidental taking of ESA-listed humpback whales in a sablefish fishery off the Pacific coast. The group argued NMFS violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMP...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's order granting voluntary remand and vacating EPA's 2020 CWA Section 401 Certification Rule. States, environmental groups, and tribes challenged the rule, arguing it unlawfully restricted states' and tribes' ability to reject water pollution projects. Bef...

A district court adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to deny summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit concerning the Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a CWA §404 permit for a roadway expansion project in Florida. The group argued the Corps violated the CWA by failing to r...

A district court denied the state of Illinois' motion to remand to state court a lawsuit concerning three companies' manufacturing and subsequent disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Illinois filed suit in state court, arguing the companies manufactured, marketed, and sold PCBs that led to ...

The Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review EPA's 2019 amended registration of the pesticide sulfoxaflor. Environmental groups alleged that the registration, which unconditionally approved new uses of sulfoxaflor requested by the company that created the pesticide, viola...

The Fifth Circuit denied a petition to review a CWA permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers authorizing development of a natural gas pipeline and export facility in south Texas. A group of shrimpers and fishermen argued the permit violated the CWA by failing to show that the approved project wa...

The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, granted a joint motion to hold in abeyance four petitions to invalidate pesticide registration orders issued by EPA. Conservation groups initially petitioned the court for vacatur and remand of five registrations for failure to comply with the ESA. The parties then jointly req...

The D.C. Circuit vacated a license issued by FERC for operation of a hydroelectric dam on the Susquehanna River in Maryland. The state of Maryland issued a CWA §401(a)(1) certification to the dam's operator in 2018 with conditions. The operator challenged the certification, and the parties reached ...

A district court denied a state prison's motion for partial summary judgment in a CWA citizen suit brought by a California county. The prison argued the county did not have statutory standing to sue under the CWA because the Act's definition of "citizen" did not include counties. The court concluded...