The California Supreme Court held that a county's policy of approving permits for new water wells without environmental review violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Conservation groups argued that issuances of the permits were discretionary, not ministerial, projects and thus req...

A district court denied a motion to preliminarily enjoin further construction of a 429-mile natural gas pipeline in Texas. An environmental group sought to halt work on the pipeline at 129 water crossings, arguing the Army Corps of Engineers authorized construction at those crossings in violation of...

The Ninth Circuit vacated dismissal of a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit brought against the U.S. government concerning pollution from an abandoned military facility in Alaska. A resident argued that her property was contaminated by hazardous chemicals negligently released from the facility, ...

The Second Circuit vacated a final rule published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that reversed the agency's 2016 civil penalty increase for noncompliance with Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. States and environmental groups argued NHTSA erroneously conc...