The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing an Eskimo village's nuisance claim against multiple oil, energy, and utility companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The village claimed that the companies are responsible for a substantial portion of the greenhouse gas...

The Court held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) from new motor vehicles. The case arose after private organizations petitioned EPA to begin regulating four GHGs, including carbon dioxid (CO2), under the Clean Air Act....

A district court upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue a CWA §404 permit to a mining company for the construction of a valley fill and sediment pond in conjunction with the Reylas Surface Mine in West Virginia. The Corps' adoption of a compensatory mitigation plan that will rep...

The Ninth Circuit upheld an EPA Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) order denying a native village's petition for review of an NPDES permit authorizing the discharge of wastewater from an Alaskan lead and zinc mine. The village failed to demonstrate why EPA's responses to comments were clearly erroneo...

A district court held that EPA overstepped its statutory authority under the CWA and SMCRA when it issued guidance on Appalachian surface coal mining permits. EPA argued that the guidance was not final agency action and, thus, not subject to judicial review. But the court disagreed, holding that the...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' lawsuits challenging BLM's decision to authorize the leasing of certain public lands in northeastern Wyoming for coal mining operations. The groups, who claim that BLM failed to prepare an adequate EIS before authorizing the leasing of the tracts at i...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin the construction of segments of the Keystone XL pipeline. After an oil company's original request to complete the Keystone XL pipeline was denied by President Obama in 2011, the company sought to divide its original interco...

The First Circuit denied a petition challenging an EPA NPDES permit setting forth discharge limits for nitrogen, phosphorous, and aluminum for a large sewage treatment plant along the Blackstone River in Massachusetts. A water district that operates the treatment plant argued that EPA should have wa...