The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a lower court decision related to the United States’ effort to recoup under the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Indian Tribes Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990 (Settlement Act) excess diversions of water that an irrigation district permitted over man...
The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not act arbitrarily, capriciously, or contrary to law when it granted Nevada's request to split one of its clean air areas into two. Contrary to an environmental group's claim, the presence and operation of a mine in the ...
The court vacated a lower court order denying environmental groups' motion for attorneys fees in an underlying case challenging a surface mining operation permit. In that case, the groups sought, and eventually obtained, a writ of mandamus setting aside the permit. Pursuant to California Code of Civ...
The court remanded portions of a 2002 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule interpreting when a major stationary source undertakes a "modification," thereby triggering the Clean Air Act's new source review (NSR) requirements. EPA erred in promulgating the clean unit applicability test, whi...
The court affirms a district court's grant of summary judgment to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on environmental groups' request for civil penalties and on its claim as to violations of the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) 20% opacity limitation occurring before May 20, 1999, but it reversed summary j...
The court reverses the dismissal of an individual's complaint against his employer under the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) whistleblower provision. The U.S. Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB) dismissed the complaint reasoning that the individual did not engage in a protected activity ...
A court partially grants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) and individuals' motions to dismiss a class action suit stemming from plaintiffs' exposure to hazardous substances in the interior of their residences, schools, and workplaces as a result of the dust and debris released from...
The court rejects a mining association's statutory and constitutional claims challenging a 1999 Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) rule defining "valid existing rights." The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act prohibits new surface coal mining operations on certain lan...
The Court reversed the Fourth Circuit's grant of summary judgment in favor of a coal-fired power plant operator charged with violating the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) regulations. The CAA's PSD and new source performance standards (NSPS) provisions both cove...
The Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of rescue, search, and cleanup workers' substantive due process complaint against federal officials for knowingly issuing false statements about air quality safety in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center. The wor...