The Fifth Circuit denied an environmental group’s petition to review a Surface Transportation Board (STB) decision that granted an exemption to a railroad company to construct and operate a rail line to service a proposed limestone quarry, which was to be developed in phases, without meeting certa...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a lower court decision related to the United States’ effort to recoup under the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Indian Tribes Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990 (Settlement Act) excess diversions of water that an irrigation district permitted over man...

The Tenth Circuit reversed a lower court decision to find that environmental groups’ claim—that the failure of the Bureau of Reclamation to weigh its discretion to reallocate water from agricultural and municipal contract users to maintain stream flows for the benefit of an endangered minnow in ...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a citizen group's petition challenging a state agency's risk assessment process for pesticides under California's Toxic Air Contaminants Act. Under the policy, those pesticides with known properties that render them most likely ...

A district court held that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection violated the CWA's NPDES requirements when it allowed acid mine drainage to be discharged from "bond forfeiture" or abandoned mining sites without a permit. The groups successfully demonstrated that the agency is dis...

A district court vacated and remanded FWS' final rule designating a distinct population segment (DPS) for the Greater Yellowstone Area grizzly bear population and removing that population from the threatened species list under the ESA. The FWS did not comply with the ESA in its consideration of the ...

The Second Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing states', New York City's, and land trusts' public nuisance claims against six electric power corporations relating to the companies' ongoing contributions to climate change. The corporations own and operate fossil fuel-fired power plants ...

The Third Circuit upheld individuals' convictions and sentences for, among other things, knowingly violating EPA work practice standards for the handling and disposal of asbestos-containing material. The violations stem from asbestos-abatement activities that the individuals were hired to perform in...

A district court granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss an automobile company's CERCLA and state-law actions against a gas company for costs it has incurred and will continue to incur in connection with environmental contamination at a former manufactured gas plant in Dearborn, Michig...

A district court granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss the United States' and Texas' claims against two companies for response costs incurred at three sites contaminated with radioactive materials. The United States' CERCLA claim against one of the companies was untimely. The governm...