The court holds that a 1989 administrative agreement between a Pennsylvania environmental agency and the owner and operator of a pulp and paper mill that modified the color limits contained in the mill's 1984 national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit was invalid and, therefore, ...

The court affirms a district court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the United States and ordering a commercial marina in Puerto Rico to remove piers and structures it built without the necessary permits in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The marina sought after-the-fact permi...

The court holds that a state health department properly denied an application for a permit to construct and operate a medical waste facility. The facility failed to provide two state agencies with the pre-siting notice that the state medical waste siting act required before the legal advertisement o...

A district court denied motions to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the federal designation of over 1.8 million acres in the Sierra Nevada mountains as critical habitat for three amphibian species. Associations representing California ranchers and farmers who are no longer able to graze livestock on th...

The Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that CERCLA preempts state tort law claims brought by residents living near the Onondaga Lake Superfund site. The owner of the site undertook remedial action pursuant to a federal consent decree. The residents argued, on a state tort law theory, tha...

A district court dismissed groups' NEPA and CWA claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in connection with its approval of a 17-mile transmission line across the James River near historic Jamestown, Virginia. The Corps took a "hard look" at the project and properly determined that no EIS was...

Pennsylvania's highest court reversed a lower court decision that would have allowed a company to drill, construct, develop, and operate unconventional natural gas wells as a conditional use in a district zoned for residential and agricultural uses. The lower court held that the proposed gas well wa...

A district court ordered EPA to comply with a FOIA request concerning the EPA Administrator's statement on TV that he did not believe human activity was a primary cause of climate change. Following his remarks, an environmental group filed a FOIA request for EPA records “relied upon by Administrat...

A district court denied the U.S. government's motion to stay discovery in a lawsuit brought by a group of youths against the U.S. government for failing to protect them from climate change. The government argued that the group is not entitled to discovery because their claim must proceed under the A...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not exceed its statutory authority in identifying the Garcia River under Clean Water Act (CWA) §303(d)(1)(A) and establishing the Garcia River total maximum daily load (TMDL) even though the river is polluted only by nonpoint s...