The Ninth Circuit upheld the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') unconditional deregulation of Roundup Ready Alfalfa (RRA), a genetically modified plant that allows farmers to control weeds through herbicide application without harming the alfalfa plant. APHIS correctly concluded t...

The Fourth Circuit upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue a CWA §404 fill permit to a surface mine in West Virginia. Environmental groups challenged the permit on two grounds. First, they argued that the Corps made "a material factual error" and "misapprehended" the baseline con...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that patent exhaustion does not permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder’s permission. A seed manufacturer invented and patented Roundup Ready soybean seeds, which contain a genetic alteration that allows them...

A district court dismissed as time barred environmental groups' CWA and APA claims challenging EPA's list of dispersants and other projects that may be used in the event of an oil spill. The groups asserted that the list, called the NCP Product Schedule, fails to specify the waters or quantities in ...

A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss a poultry farmer's lawsuit against the Agency seeking a declaratory judgment that farmyard stormwater runoff is statutorily exempt from regulation as an agricultural stormwater discharge. In 2011, EPA issued a compliance order to the farmer requiring h...

The D.C. Circuit upheld a consent decree that established a schedule for EPA to initiate notice-and-comment rulemaking and make a formal decision whether to promulgate a new rule revising certain effluent limitations and effluent limitations guidelines under the CWA. Below, an association of energy ...