The Second Circuit, in a summary order, upheld a coke company's convictions for RCRA violations at its facility near Buffalo, New York. The company claimed the RCRA convictions should be reversed because it lacked fair notice that its conduct was criminal. But it failed to raise this argument below....

A district court held that an individual may go forward with her toxic tort claims against the successor to a manufacturing company that released trichloroethylene (TCE) into the environment near her childhood home. The plaintiff alleges she was exposed to the TCE, which caused her to develop severa...

A Pennsylvania court upheld an environmental hearing board order dismissing a municipal authority's challenge to a gas drilling permit that the Department of Environmental Protection issued to an oil and gas exploration company. The authority argued that the permitted drilling will result in violati...

A district court dismissed recreational fishing groups' lawsuit against NMFS concerning its management of the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. The groups challenged the enactment of Amendment 40 to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and an a...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed recreational fishing groups' lawsuit against NMFS for failing to manage stocks of river herring and shad in the Atlantic Ocean from New York to North Carolina. In 2012, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council began developing Amendment 15 to the Mackerel, Squid, and Bu...

A district court held that USDA's Wildlife Services failed to comply with NEPA with respect to gray wolf management in Washington. The agency entered into a cooperative service agreement with Washington's wildlife agency to help implement the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, particular...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed a conservation group's lawsuit against FWS for failing to make a timely determination on their petition to list certain species of sturgeon as endangered or threatened under the ESA. Upon the filing of a listing petition, FWS must make an initial determination within 90 da...

A district court refused to preliminarily enjoin federal land use restrictions intended to protect the greater sage grouse. Mining companies, the state of Nevada, and other plaintiffs filed suit challenging BLM's and the U.S. Forest Service's decisions to amend their resource management plans to pro...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a natural gas company charged with violating the state's Clean Streams Law may seek preenforcement judicial review of the state environmental agency's interpretation of the statute's penalty provisions. The agency, which has assessed ongoing, multimillion dol...

The Sixth Circuit dismissed individuals' CWA citizen suit against the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) for issuing NPDES permits for animal feeding operations without first obtaining approval from EPA. States must notify EPA if they intend to transfer authority over part of the EPA-approved stat...