The court holds that the Bureau of Reclamation's failure to implement the reasonable and prudent alternatives (RPAs) of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) biological opinion (BO) for a water resources project in Arizona violated Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 by resulting in the take of an endangered ...

The court approves a settlement agreement in four consolidated cases challenging regulation of toxic water pollutants by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Civil Action No. 2153-73 sought to compel EPA to expand the list of toxic pollutants promulgated under §307 of the Federal Water Pollut...

A district court held that FWS applied an improper standard when it concluded there was not adequate scientific evidence to warrant listing the Yellowstone bison population under the ESA. Environmentalists petitioned the agency in 2014 to list the Yellowstone bison as either threatened or endangered...

The Michigan Court of Appeals held that a class action case involving the Flint water crisis can proceed. Citizens of Flint formed a class and sued Michigan officials for their "deliberate" decision to expose them to toxic water from the Flint River. The citizens alleged that their due process right...

The First Circuit held that stormwater running off parking lots and other paved surfaces at Harvard, MIT, and other Boston-area universities will remain unregulated even though it may be polluting the Charles River and its tributaries. An environmental group sought to compel EPA to regulate the disc...

The court reverses a district court decision holding that two environmental groups lacked standing to bring citizen suits against a lumber company for violating its Clean Water Act (CWA) national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit. The district court held that spatial and temporal...

ELR Digest
The court holds that a manufacturer seeking to recover response costs it incurred at a Connecticut site cannot bring a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107 cost recovery action against other potentially responsible parties (PRPs), but that ...

The court upholds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) issuance of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of 0.013 parts per quadrillion (ppq) for dioxin in the Columbia River. The court first holds that EPA's decision is supported by substantial evidence, and rejects plaintiff citizen grou...

The court holds that a district court erred when it declined to order a corporation to adhere to the terms of a settlement agreement it reached with a city regarding the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and state-law cost recovery claims. The city sought...

The court holds that citizen groups have standing to sue to set aside a land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and a mining company that violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act's (FLPMA's) valuation requirements. The court first holds that the groups have standing. The...