The Ninth Circuit upheld a 2014 EPA settlement that required the Agency to set a phased schedule for it to issue air quality designations as required by a 2010 sulfur dioxide NAAQS. In 2013, when EPA missed the statutory deadline to issue its designations under the CAA, environmental groups sued to ...

The D.C. Circuit held that carbon emissions from gas-burning power plants should have been considered in federal regulators’ review of a Florida natural gas pipeline. Environmental groups and landowners challenged a FERC decision to approve the construction and operation of three new interstate na...

The Tenth Circuit rejected EPA's decision to deny an oil company's request for an exemption from the blending requirement under the Renewable Fuel Standards Program of the CAA. In 2005, Congress amended the CAA to require refiners and importers to blend biofuels into gasoline to cut down on greenhou...

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA overstepped its authority under the CAA when it banned the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in products. In 2015, EPA issued a rule that restricted the manufacture of products containing HFCs. EPA based this decision on its authority to regulate "ozone depleting substa...

A district court held that New York's Zero-Emission Credit (ZEC) program is not preempted by federal law. In an effort to curb the effects of global warming, New York issued a Clean Energy Standard (CES) Order that created two programs, one being ZEC. A ZEC is a “credit for the zero-emissions attr...

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA must justify emissions limits set for certain hazardous air pollutants. The CAA requires EPA to set limits for seven different hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). In 2015, the Agency claimed to have identified sources of these pollutants and set emissions limits for them....

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA must continue to enforce methane emissions regulations implemented by the previous administration. In 2016, an EPA regulation required oil and gas companies to find and fix leaking methane. The measure requires companies to upgrade equipment at the sites to better capt...

The Fourth Circuit held that it does not have jurisdiction to determine whether EPA violated the CAA when the agency failed to conduct continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment before implementing regulations. In 2014, several coal companies brought suit against EPA, alleging ...

The Iowa Supreme Court held that neighbors of an Iowa corn processing plant were properly certified as a class to pursue pollution claims against the operator. The neighbors filed a suit under state nuisance, trespass, and negligence law, claiming air pollution from the plant interfered with the use...

The D.C. Circuit vacated an EPA final rule that exempted farms from reporting requirements for air releases from animal waste. In 2008 the EPA issued a final rule that generally exempts farms from CERCLA and EPCRA reporting requirements for air releases from animal waste, reasoning that the reports ...