The Sixth Circuit upheld EPA's redesignation of Cleveland, Ohio, from nonattainment to attainment for particulate matter under CAA §107(d)(3)(E). An environmental group argued that EPA illegally waived statutory requirements when it redesignated the area to attainment by not fully approving the...
A Nevada court upheld a county decision denying a company's request for a special use permit to mine clay from two open pits on federal land north of Reno, Nevada, and to build a plant to produce cat litter on private land nearby. The Mining Law of 1872 and federal regulations don't exempt the proje...
The court holds that the Illinois Coal Act violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Act requires public utilities to devise Clean Air Act (CAA) compliance plans and present them to the Illinois Commerce Commission for approval. The Act requires the utilities and the Commission to t...
The court holds that New Mexico's environmental agency may not bring an enforcement action in federal court to seek federalpenalties under §113 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for violations of its state implementation plan (SIP) after successfully prosecuting a state court enforcement action against th...
The court upholds a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that allows a state to stop Clean Air Act (CAA) §179(a)'s 18-month countdown to imposition of sanctions when it is triggered by an EPA finding that the state failed to submit a complete state implementation plan (SIP). Under the ru...
The court holds that provisions of Indiana's Environmental Compliance Plans Act (ECPA) that favor a utility's use of Indiana coal violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The ECPA allows a utility to seek an early review by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) of the utility...
The court holds that provisions of Indiana's Environmental Compliance Plans Act (ECPA) that favor a utility's use of Indiana coal violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The ECPA allows a utility to seek an early review by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) of the utility...
The court holds that the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not bar a citizen group that was denied attorney fees by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality from asserting a Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) claim against the state agency in federal court. The ...
The court holds that a federal statutory requirement that holders of unpatented mining claims pay $100 per claim in 1993 and 1994 or else forfeit their claims did not effect an uncompensated taking of claimholders' property in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The fee replac...
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not violate the U.S. Constitution's Tenth Amendment or Spending Clause by imposing Clean Air Act (CAA) offset and highway sanctions against Missouri for its failure to properly implement its state implementation plan (SIP). The ...