The Fifth Circuit granted small refiners' motion to stay certain compliance obligations under the CAA pending appeal of EPA's decision denying their requested hardship exemptions from the Act's Renewable Fuel Standard obligations. The refiners argued EPA's late 2021 interpretation of CAA provisions ...
A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's approval of a new open-pit phosphate mine in southeast Idaho. Environmental groups argued the approval violated NEPA, FLPMA, and the CWA. The court found BLM failed to adequately consider t...
A district court adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to deny summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit concerning the Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a CWA §404 permit for a roadway expansion project in Florida. The group argued the Corps violated the CWA by failing to r...
The Fifth Circuit ordered FERC to provide a meaningful explanation for the length of time it takes for final action in Federal Power Act §206 complaint proceedings, in a lawsuit concerning complaints that have gone four to six years without resolution. The Louisiana Public Service Commission petiti...
The D.C. Circuit granted EPA's motion to dismiss an industry group's challenge to interim lifetime health advisories for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. The court found that the group identified alleged harm facing an indirect subsidiary of one of its members, but failed t...
A district court denied the state of Illinois' motion to remand to state court a lawsuit concerning three companies' manufacturing and subsequent disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Illinois filed suit in state court, arguing the companies manufactured, marketed, and sold PCBs that led to ...
A district court denied summary judgment for commercial fishermen and a trade group in a lawsuit concerning NMFS' allocation of red grouper fishing privileges in the Gulf of Mexico among recreational and commercial fishermen. Plaintiffs argued that Amendment 53 to the fishery management plan for ree...
The Tenth Circuit upheld a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Trump that disapproved the Stream Protection Rule, which was adopted by DOI under the Obama Administration. Nonprofit groups argued that the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which Congress used to repeal the rule, ...
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a lawsuit concerning a petition to amend the Service's 1993 recovery plan for the endangered grizzly bear. An environmental group petitioned FWS, proposing additional recovery areas in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Utah that it argu...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's remand to state court of a lawsuit concerning dredging operations in a ship channel near Corpus Christi. The port authority sued a dredging company in state court, alleging that the company's operations resulted in physical trespass and encroachments on ...