A New York appellate court upheld a lower court decision invalidating a water sales agreement that would have allowed a town to sell approximately one million gallons per day from its water supply to an energy company for drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania. Despite the town's conclusi...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' CAA citizen suit against a crude oil transloading facility for constructing and operating the facility without a prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit. The groups allege that the facility is required to have a PSD permit because it has ...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed petitions challenging EPA's authorization of California regulations intended to reduce emissions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen from in-use nonroad diesel engines, ruling that venue was improper. A trucking company filed a petition for review of EPA's nonroad...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin a forest fire recovery project in the southern Oregon Klamath Mountains. After a fire destroyed approximately 48,000 acres of forest in Oregon, BLM initiated the project to salvage remainin...

A district court held that an insurance company need not defend the owner of a landfill in an underlying CERCLA suit for recovery costs. The policy provided coverage for "wrongful entry," and the owner argued this provision applied because the underlying complaint alleges that odors, gas, and hazard...

The California Supreme Court held that agencies subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) generally are not required to analyze the impact of existing environmental conditions on a project's future users or residents. But when a proposed project risks exacerbating those environmenta...

A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a dispute between a Native American tribe and the state of Maine concerning the tribe's regulatory jurisdiction and fishing rights along the main stem of the Penobscot River. The court agreed with the tribe tha...

The Fourth Circuit granted EPA's petition for a writ of mandamus to preclude an energy company from deposing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in a lawsuit seeking to compel EPA to evaluate the CAA's impacts on jobs under §321(a). High-ranking government officials may not be deposed or called to test...

The Eleventh Circuit denied environmental groups' lawsuit challenging EPA's interim decision not to revoke Alabama's NPDES permitting authority. Alleging 26 program deficiencies, the groups petitioned EPA to begin proceedings to withdraw Alabama's authority to administer the NPDES program. EPA issue...

A district court held that the prior owner of a contaminated site is jointly and severally liable for the current owner's response costs under CERCLA §107(a). The prior owner argued that the current owner has not incurred costs that are necessary or consistent with the NCP. But there is ample uncon...