The First Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court decision dismissing environmental groups' CWA claims against the operators of four hydroelectric dams along the Kennebec River. The groups alleged that the operators are in violation of their water quality certifications, and thus the CWA, because...

The Fourth Circuit held that a coal company may not assert the CWA's "permit shield" defense for discharges of selenium when it failed to disclose the presence of this pollutant during the permit application process. The company argued that because it disclosed the pollutants that it knew or had rea...

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Enhanced Coordination Process memorandum, which concerns CWA §404 mining permit applications, as well as an EPA guidance document relating to such permits, against challenges from the mining industry and two states. The Enhanced Co...

A district court vacated the government's approval of on-the-ground mining exploration activities in a part of western Colorado's North Fork Valley and enjoined the intervening mining companies from proceeding with the project until the agencies comply with NEPA. Although the federal agencies provid...

A district court upheld a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued under CWA §404 for a railroad extension project in an area surrounded by wetlands. Two functional assessments were prepared for the project. An environmental group argued that the second functional assessment, which was performed ...

A district court held that an environmental group lacked standing to challenge a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued to an oil company to fill certain wetlands in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska for a future drill site. The group's members have not demonstrated the requisite injury in...

A district court held that a Hawaiian county illegally discharged wastewater into the ocean through groundwater injection wells in violation of the CWA. An environmental group sued the county, seeking to compel it to apply for and comply with the terms of an NPDES permit, and to pay civil penalties ...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed teenagers' lawsuit against the federal government for failing to cap greenhouse gas emissions. Invoking the federal question statute, 28 U.S.C. §1331, as the basis for subject matter jurisdiction, the minors alleged that the federal defendants are trustees of essential na...

A district court held that mining companies discharged excessive amounts of ionic pollution, measured as conductivity, into the waters of West Virginia in violation of their federal NPDES and state surface mining permits. The companies argued that the court could not rule in the groups' favor becaus...