The court holds that coal-fired electric power plants must obtain a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make modifications that will increase annual emissions even if the modifications do not increase hourly emissions. The regulation at issue, 40 C.F.R. §52.21, require...

The court upholds a lower court summary judgment decision dismissing an airport authority's action for response costs incurred during an airport expansion project. The costs are not "necessary" and the authority fails to present "appropriate remedial alternatives" in a timely manner. The authority, ...

The court dismisses a farmer's takings claim against the U.S. government for requiring him to remediate wetlands on his property. Prior to his ownership of the farm, portions of his land were drained with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After he acquired the property from his p...

A district court holds that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in permitting four companies to plant genetically modified crops in Hawaii to produce experimental drugs. APHIS argues that it com...

The court holds that a city that discharges wastewater without a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit into a pond that contains wetlands adjacent to a river violates the Clean Water Act (CWA). In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Rapanos v. United States, 126 S....

The court upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regional haze rule, which was promulgated to remedy visibility impairment in national parks and wilderness areas. The rule requires that under specified circumstances, states impose best available retrofit technology (BART) on any B...

A district court grants summary judgment in favor of environmental groups challenging the U.S. Forest Service's record of decision for 49 mining operations in the North Fork Burnt River watershed in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The Forest Service violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) because it...

A district court holds that for purposes of issuing a search warrant, it is reasonable for a judge to conclude that there is probable cause to believe that Clean Water Act jurisdiction extends to a creek that runs behind and receives unpermitted human waste discharge from the defendants' farm labor ...

The court holds that a nonprofit organization lacks standing to challenge the legality of the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. None of the organization's members, at the time it filed its complaint, had suffered a redressable injury due to the establishme...

The court upholds a lower court's assignment and apportionment of liability for certain cleanup costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) concerning the Vertac Chemical Plant site in Jacksonville, Arkansas. The lower court properly concluded that ...