The Ninth Circuit approved a settlement agreement between the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and a large number of its energy customers that sets terms for refunding customers who were previously overcharged as well as new rate terms for the next 17 years. BPA argued that the plaintiff—a gr...

The Sixth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, denied a wildlife preserve's motion to preliminarily enjoin a mining company from constructing and operating a nickel and copper mine in Marquette, Michigan, and to compel the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to force a federal permitting request. The mining...

The Second Circuit, in a summary order, affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a property owner's lawsuit against a nearby gas station operator for contaminating the owner's shopping plaza and against a cleanup contractor for failing to detect the contamination or warn of its potential existence...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision dismissing a clean energy group's petition challenging a city's certification and approval of an environmental impact report (EIR) prepared for a proposed update to the city's general plan. The group argued that the approved final EIR fell...

The Fourth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed a lower court decision dismissing landowner's negligence and trespass claims against natural gas drilling companies for alleged well water contamination. The landowners failed to connect any allegedly wrongful conduct by the companies with the ...

The Seventh Circuit held that a town may not assess stormwater management fees on Indian lands located within the town's borders. The town passed an ordinance allowing it to assess fees on all parcels of land in the town, including those owned by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, to pay for its stormw...

A district court held that an insurance company need not indemnify or defend a waste hauler in an underlying class action lawsuit for contamination stemming from their transport and disposal of "produced fluid waste" from oil and gas drilling operations into an open, unlined dump site. The hauler's ...

The Tenth Circuit held that landowners lacked standing to challenge two wind energy projects in Wyoming. FERC certified the projects under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, which seeks to promote renewable energy sources by requiring utilities to buy power from small facilities that meet...

A district court held that litter and manure washed from a farmyard into navigable waters due to a precipitation event is an agricultural stormwater discharge and not a point source discharge, rendering it exempt from the CWA's NPDES permit requirement. The case involves a poultry farmer who operate...

A district court denied industry groups' motion to intervene in a CAA citizen suit concerning EPA's alleged failure to review the ozone NAAQS in a timely manner. The underlying lawsuit concerns whether EPA has failed to perform a mandatory duty to review the ozone air quality standards, and whether ...