A district court dismissed a class action lawsuit against an automobile company for allegedly misleading consumers into purchasing certain diesel vehicles by misrepresenting their environmental impact. The class of consumers alleged that the company's advertisements and public statements represented...

The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and remanded in part a lower court decision dismissing a helium extraction company's breach of contract claims against the United States. In 1994, the parties entered a contract under which BLM gave the company the right to extract helium gas from roughly 21,000 ...

A district court held that EPA, in connection with its enforcement and implementation of the CAA, failed to adequately evaluate potential job losses, particularly with respect to the coal industry, in violation of CAA §321(a). Section 321(a) requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations of pote...

A district court dismissed environmental and animal rights groups' lawsuit against EPA for failing to respond to a 2009 petition for rulemaking that asked the Agency to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) as a source of air pollution under the CAA. The groups argued EPA violated ...

The Supreme Court of California held that the state's moratorium on the use of suction dredges to mine gold from rivers was not preempted by federal mining law. The case arose after an individual challenged his conviction for the possession and unpermitted use of a suction dredge. He argued that the...

A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service violated NEPA, the Wilderness Act, and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in connection with its decision to allow drilling, road reconstruction, and the use of motorized vehicles and heavy equipment at the Golden Hand Mine in the Frank Churc...

The D.C. Circuit, in a 162-page opinion, granted in part and denied in part petitions challenging three EPA rules setting NESHAPs for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerator (CISWI) units. The petitioners brought approximately 30 challe...

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's compliance deadlines for states to meet the NAAQS for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The court previously had ruled that the framework EPA had been applying to PM2.5 was incorrect, and ordered the Agency to apply a stricter statutory framework. EPA then promulgated th...