The U.S. Supreme Court holds that an interstate compact, a 1785 agreement between Virginia and Maryland, and a subsequent arbitration award—the Black-Jenkins Award of 1877—(the Black-Jenkins Award) concerning water allocation rights have the force of legislation and supersede inconsistent ...

The court vacates and remands a district court ruling that the Clean Water Act's (CWA's) citizen suit provision does not apply to pesticide uses that comply with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). New York City had used three insecticides regulated under FIFRA to addres...

The court affirms a district court decision finding a chemical company liable in connection with the Buckeye Reclamation Landfill in Buckeye, Ohio, and determining its equitable share of past and future response costs for cleanup of the landfill to be 6%, but reverses and remands the district court'...

The Ninth Circuit held that property owners and three employees of the California Department of Fish and Game did not violate the ESA when they dug up and removed Sebastopol meadowfoam—an endangered plant species—from privately owned wetlands. Under ESA §9(a)(2)(B), it is unlawful to remove, da...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of landowners' lawsuit challenging an EPA compliance order requiring them to remove fill material from their property and to restore the parcel to its original condition. The order alleged that the parcel is a wetland subject to the CWA and that the landowner...

The Fifth Circuit held that a construction company that, during an excavation, failed to investigate what it hit in a pipeline corridor and rectify any damage, is not liable as an arranger under CERCLA or the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act. The excavation work took place in 1979, but the owner of th...

A district court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly extended its jurisdiction under the CWA by enacting new legislative rules related to prior converted croplands without allowing the required public notice-and-comment period under the APA. A power company that operates its facili...

The Sixth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service failed to comply with NEPA and several of its own regulations in its 2006 management plan for the Huron-Manistee National Forests in northern Michigan. The Service's estimates of snowmobile and cross-country visitors to the forests are arbitrary. A...

A district court dismisses a property owner's CWA citizen suit against his neighbor for grading an easement area that contains wetlands. A CWA citizens suit may not be maintained if it only involves past violations of the CWA. Here, there is no evidence of any ongoing violation--either continuous or...

A district court denied California's motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) regulations under the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The regulations focus on the "carbon intensity" of fuels to estimate emissions related to a fuel's lifecycle. In respon...