A district court held it could not rule on the merits as to whether EPA violated the APA when it approved Ohio's 2016 impaired water list, but nevertheless remanded the case to EPA so it could approve or disapprove Ohio's incomplete CWA §303 list. Under the CWA, states must submit to EPA a list of ...
The court holds that Native American tribes and environmental groups have standing to challenge a state permit issued for a proposed public water supply project in Virginia. The project involved the discharge of dredged or fill material, thus, a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corp...
The Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a CWA §404 permit authorizing the discharge of materials into the Santa Clara River as part of a large-scale residential, commercial, and industrial development project in Los Angeles County. The proposed project would encompass...
A Pennsylvania appellate court held that a family may go forward with its lawsuit against a natural gas company for operating wells on adjacent property to extract natural gas from beneath the family's property via hydraulic fracturing. The family asserted claims for trespass and conversion and soug...
A district court dismissed an oil company's lawsuit seeking to stop the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys General (AGs) from investigating whether the company misled investors and the public about its knowledge of climate change and the potential effects that climate change may have on its busine...
A district court ordered EPA to promulgate revised CAA emission standards for nine industrial sectors by October 1, 2021. Environmental groups wanted the overdue rulemakings to be completed within two years, while the Agency requested seven years. The court determined that three and a half years was...
The court, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, affirms a Court of Federal Claims' decision awarding two oil companies restitution of the full amount of bonus payments they made to the U.S. government for 10-year renewable rights to explore for and develop oil and gas resources on tracts of the ou...
The court affirms a lower court decision upholding a town council's denial of a company's application for a preliminary subdivision plat approval in connection with its proposal to construct a recreational vehicle park. The court first holds that an allegedly biased councilman's participation in the...
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) when it promulgated a rule allowing it to treat areas where the Native American status is in question as Native American country, and proposing to make state/tribal jurisdictional...
ELR Digest
The court holds that the former owner of a chemical manufacturing facility must fund an independent study to determine if mercury remediation downriver from the facility is required, and if so, the precise content of the appropriate remediation plan. The court first holds that based on t...