The Sixth Circuit vacated EPA's 2023 disapproval of a SIP proposed by Kentucky to comply with Agency changes to ozone NAAQS. Kentucky challenged the disapproval, which rested on different modeling that came out after the Agency's deadline for submitting the plan and on a lower threshold than the one...

In a per curiam opinion, a divided en banc Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's civil penalty award of $14.25 million against an oil company in a long-running dispute concerning alleged CAA permit violations at an industrial complex in Baytown, Texas. Environmental groups had filed a CAA citize...

A district court granted the Maine Department of Marine Resources' motion to dismiss a challenge to its rule that compels federally licensed lobstermen to install a tracking device on their fishing vessels. The lobstermen challenged the rule under the Maine Administrative Procedure Act (MAPA) and on...

A district court granted in part nonprofit and public interest groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') 2020 rule concerning regulation of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The groups argued the rule effectively abandoned fe...

In an unpublished opinion, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court's order remanding to state court a lawsuit concerning a Michigan airport's use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). Michigan's attorney general (AG) and Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy sued in state court, argu...

The First Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the U.S. government in a lawsuit concerning a plan to construct a large-scale commercial offshore wind energy facility off of Martha's Vineyard. Several entities associated with the commercial fishing industry challenged the approval process, asserting...

A district court denied in part and dismissed in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning the use of seeds treated with pesticides. The groups petitioned EPA to subject treated seeds to FIFRA, arguing the Agency could not exempt them from a separate registration...

A district court granted summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit alleging that an equestrian center was unlawfully discharging pollutants into waters of the United States. The group argued the center discharged wastewater into adjacent waters without an NPDES permit, which it was re...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its approval of a 40,000-acre logging project in Malheur National Forest. An environmental group argued the Service violated NEPA by failing to adequately assess cumulative impacts, failin...

A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to Wildlife Services' reauthorization of a predator damage and conflict management program in Montana under which grizzly bears may be killed. The groups argued the Services violated NEPA by failing to include critical...