The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an environmental group's citizen suit against two electric companies alleging that their utility poles discharged wood preservative into the environment in violation of the CWA and RCRA. The group failed to state a claim under the CWA because discharges of...

A district court held that BLM violated NEPA when it sold four oil and gas leases on approximately 2,700 acres of federal land in Monterey and Fresno counties without considering impacts from hydraulic fracturing. The leases are located in California's Monterey Shale Formation, which is estimated to...

The Ninth Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part lower court orders in cases arising out of the energy crisis of 2000-2002 that were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation proceeding. Plaintiffs—retail buyers of natural gas—alleged that defendants—natural gas traders—manipulated...

The Eighth Circuit vacated two EPA letters announcing new legislative rules for water treatment processes at municipally owned sewer system. EPA admitted it did not engage in notice and comment procedures, but it insisted there has been no procedural impropriety because the letters should be conside...

A district court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the CWA and NEPA when it issued a §404 permit allowing a mining company to permanently fill 11,194 linear feet of streams in Boone County, West Virginia. The court previously issued a remand order requiring the Corps to: (1) re-is...