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...

A district court held that a minor may bring a climate change lawsuit against the state of New Mexico under the public trust doctrine. The minor made a substantive allegation that, notwithstanding statutes enacted by the New Mexico legislature that enable the state to set air quality standards, the ...

A district court ordered a mining company to comply with the CWA by October 31, 2012, and to pay over $2 million in penalties for CWA violations in Montezuma Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork Boise River near Atlanta, Idaho. Environmental groups filed suit against the company for discharging wa...