A district court dismissed groups' NEPA and CWA claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in connection with its approval of a 17-mile transmission line across the James River near historic Jamestown, Virginia. The Corps took a "hard look" at the project and properly determined that no EIS was...

Pennsylvania's highest court reversed a lower court decision that would have allowed a company to drill, construct, develop, and operate unconventional natural gas wells as a conditional use in a district zoned for residential and agricultural uses. The lower court held that the proposed gas well wa...

A district court ordered EPA to comply with a FOIA request concerning the EPA Administrator's statement on TV that he did not believe human activity was a primary cause of climate change. Following his remarks, an environmental group filed a FOIA request for EPA records “relied upon by Administrat...

A district court denied the U.S. government's motion to stay discovery in a lawsuit brought by a group of youths against the U.S. government for failing to protect them from climate change. The government argued that the group is not entitled to discovery because their claim must proceed under the A...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not exceed its statutory authority in identifying the Garcia River under Clean Water Act (CWA) §303(d)(1)(A) and establishing the Garcia River total maximum daily load (TMDL) even though the river is polluted only by nonpoint s...

The court upholds a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Appeals Board decision finding a dental supplies distribution company liable under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for distributing unregistered pesticides. A sales agreement the company entered in...

The court reverses a district court decision that even though a county waste treatment plant's national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit did not prohibit the discharge of heat, the plant violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) when it discharged warm water to a stream since the NPDES...

ELR Digest
The court affirms a district court's holding that a dredge and dock company is liable under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) for damages to the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary caused by a grounded tugboat and a dredge pipe, but vacates and remands the district court's approval of...

The court held that a riparian owner may dredge public underwater lands if dredging is necessary to provide reasonable access to navigable waters and does not unreasonably interfere with the rights of the owner. A petroleum storage facility that operates on a bay sought to dredge the basin near its ...

A district court held that FWS' decision to withdraw its proposed listing of the "bi-state sage grouse" as threatened under the ESA was arbitrary and capricious. FWS recognized that one of the studies it relied on was questionable. In addition, FWS violated its own policy when it failed to offer any...