A district court ordered EPA to promulgate revised CAA emission standards for nine industrial sectors by October 1, 2021. Environmental groups wanted the overdue rulemakings to be completed within two years, while the Agency requested seven years. The court determined that three and a half years was...
The court, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, affirms a Court of Federal Claims' decision awarding two oil companies restitution of the full amount of bonus payments they made to the U.S. government for 10-year renewable rights to explore for and develop oil and gas resources on tracts of the ou...
The court affirms a lower court decision upholding a town council's denial of a company's application for a preliminary subdivision plat approval in connection with its proposal to construct a recreational vehicle park. The court first holds that an allegedly biased councilman's participation in the...
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) when it promulgated a rule allowing it to treat areas where the Native American status is in question as Native American country, and proposing to make state/tribal jurisdictional...
ELR Digest
The court holds that the former owner of a chemical manufacturing facility must fund an independent study to determine if mercury remediation downriver from the facility is required, and if so, the precise content of the appropriate remediation plan. The court first holds that based on t...
ELR Digest
The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service ruling on an environmental group's appeal to the revised forest plan (RFP) of the Targhee National Forest was untimely and, thus, prevented the group from developing a full administrative record that could be used to challenge Forest Service pro...
ELR Digest
The court remands to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a company's application for a permit to dump certain sediment from a channel adjoining one of its plants into a historic area remediation site. After the company applied for the permit, the Corps published notice that it intended to i...
ELR Digest
The court holds that the Quiet Title Act's 12-year statute of limitations barred a landowner's action to quiet title to a right of access to his property through the southern half of an adjoining park in South Dakota that was condemned by the federal government in 1949. The landowner was...
The court holds that a pollution exclusion clause in a rental property owner's insurance policy bars coverage of underlying claims based on the lead poisoning of a tenant's child. The court first holds that the pollution exclusion's definition of pollutant unambiguously applies to lead-based paint. ...
The court holds that the city of Cape May, New Jersey, did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) when it approved the proposed plans of an owner of a historic hotel to restore the hotel and build a conference center on the property....