The D.C. Circuit ruled that a trade association composed of lumber companies had standing to challenge an FWS designation of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl on federal land in California, Oregon, and Washington. In 2012, FWS issued a final rule designating 9.5 million acres of federal ...
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 ...
A district court vacated a jury verdict and award of $4.2 million award in favor of two Pennsylvania families in a case involving well water contamination from a fracking operation. In 2009, 44 families sued an oil company for damages suffered as a result of the company's natural gas drilling operat...
A district court allowed a CERCLA recovery claim to go forward in a case involving mercury cleanup at the Thomas Edison light bulb factory. The plaintiff bought the property from the seller and the parties entered into an indemnification and settlement agreement (ISA). The plaintiffs brought suit ag...
A district court held that a property owner could not sue for cost recovery under CERCLA in connection with a New York property where uranium was processed for the first atomic bomb because the claim was untimely. In December 2012, the plaintiffs purchased the property from one of the defendants on ...
A district court ruled that DOI, BLM, and other agencies failed to comply with NEPA when they amended land use plans to protect the habitat of the greater sage-grouse from development in Nevada. In March 2010, FWS issued a finding on petitions to list three entities of the greater sage-grouse as thr...
A district court abstained from rendering a decision in a case concerning earthquakes allegedly caused by fracking operations in Oklahoma, choosing to instead defer to the expertise of a state commission. An environmental group brought suit against the energy company claiming that its fracking opera...
A California Appeals Court upheld a state cap-and-trade regime against challenges from the state commerce board and affected industry players. In 2006, California passed the California Global Warming Solutions Act, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To achieve the goals of the act,...
The Ninth Circuit upheld an EPA federal implementation plan (FIP) under the CAA that replaced rejected portions of the Arizona SIP concerning air quality at federal parks and forests. In 2011, Arizona submitted a SIP to EPA for approval. EPA disapproved certain aspects of Arizona’s SIP concerning ...
The Tenth Circuit held that FWS has the authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate the take of the Utah prairie dog. A group of property owners challenged FWS's authority to use the ESA to prohibit take of the Utah prairie dog, an intrastate species, on nonfederal land. A district court granted...