A court dismisses an environmental group's Clean Water Act (CWA) claim against a shooting range club for depositing lead shot in and about a tributary to the Potomac River, but it held that the group may go forward with its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) claim. In November 2003, nearl...

The court denies an insurance company's motion to dismiss individuals' action for "recovery of response costs" under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The insurance company argued that because the individuals did not assert their CERCLA claim for con...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated §7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to initiate consultation regarding the effects of pesticide registrations on the federally listed California red-legged frog. An environmental group demonstrated ...

The court denies in part and grants in part the U.S. Forest Service's motions to dismiss claims challenging a special use permit authorizing a power company to construct, operate, and maintain a right-of-way for an electrical power line through the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in...

A court dismisses environmental groups', various states', and a city's claims that fossil fuel generators should be held liable for creating the ongoing public nuisance of global warming. Specifically, the plaintiffs sought an order holding each of the generators jointly and severally liable for con...

The court upholds a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service in a suit challenging the Service's decision to undertake a site-specific project in the Allegheny National Forest. Environmental groups sought a declaratory judgment that the Service improperly selected ...

The court upholds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of the 2003 San Joaquin Valley, California, plan to attain national ambient air quality standards for particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10). In approving the plan, the Agency set a new attainment deadl...

The court remands for a de novo proceeding a district court decision that counties lacked a valid right-of-way for the construction of highways across federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). At issue is "R.S. 2477," a statute enacted by Congress in 1866 that grants "the right o...

The court holds that a corporation is responsible for the environmental response costs of a former battery manufacturer under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) based on a "de facto merger" theory of successor liability. In 2000, the corporation merged...

The court holds that the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') 2002 fishing quota for darkblotched rockfish was based on an impermissible construction of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. In adopting a rebuilding plan for an overfished species, the time period must ...