Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit upheld four EPA rulemakings governing greenhouse gases. EPA issued the rules following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), in which the Court clarified that greenhouse gases meet the definition of an air pollutant under the CAA. Petit...
Thrun v. Cuomo
A New York court dismissed individuals' lawsuit challenging the legality of New York's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional cap-and-trade plan for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The individuals claimed they had standing because, as electric utility ratepaye...
Association of Irritated Residents v. California Air Resources Board
A California appellate court held that the California Air Resources Board's (CARB's) climate change scoping plan, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, complies with the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The Global Solutions Warming Act requires CARB to ...
BCCA Appeal Group v. United State Environmental Protection Agency
The Fifth Circuit upheld EPA's decision to disapprove certain revisions to Texas' SIP. EPA disapproved the revisions concerning the state's "qualified facilities program" because it did not meet the minor new source review (NSR) SIP nor did it meet the NSR SIP requirement for a substitute major ...
Mack Trucks, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit vacated an interim final rule issued by EPA that would allow manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engines to pay nonconformance penalties in exchange for the right to sell engines that fail to satisfy nitrogen oxide requirements. In 2001, EPA issued a rule requiring a 95% reduction in...
Alec L. v. Jackson
A district court dismissed a lawsuit filed by nongovernmental organizations and a group of minors claiming that six federal agencies violated their fiduciary duties to preserve and protect the atmosphere as a commonly shared public trust resource under the public trust doctrine. The public trust...
Sierra Club v. Korleski
The Sixth Circuit held that the CAA's citizen suit provision does not allow an environmental group to file suit to compel the state of Ohio to administer a particular federal CAA regulation it has chosen no longer to administer. In 2006, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that allows the s...