Colorado v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
A district court stayed the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which substantially narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" that are subject to federal regulation under the CWA, in Colorado. Colorado argued that the Supreme Court's ruling in Rapanos v. United States foreclosed the appr...
California v. Wheeler
A district court denied a motion for preliminary relief in a challenge to the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which substantially narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" that are subject to federal regulation under the CWA. California argued that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers...
National Wildlife Federation v. Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation
The Sixth Circuit reversed, 2-1, a district court ruling that required the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to comply with the ESA and NEPA before approving an oil pipeline operator's response plans for addressing the risk of a potential oil spill. A conservation group ...
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Second Circuit granted in part and denied in part a challenge to provisions of EPA's Mercury Reporting Rule that exempted certain manufacturers of mercury or mercury-added products from reporting requirements. An environmental group and the state of Vermont argued that three provisions of the ru...
Earth Island Institute v. Wheeler
A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its duty to update its National Contingency Plan (NCP) for addressing oil and hazardous substance contamination. Environmental groups argued that the current NCP is dangerous because it continues to permit the use of chemical dispe...
National Family Farm Coalition v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Ninth Circuit vacated EPA's 2018 decision to conditionally register three dicamba-based herbicides designed to be sprayed on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. Nonprofit groups argued the decision violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The court found ...
Jumping Through Hoopa: Complicating the Clean Water Act for the States
Section 401 certification and permit conditioning under the Clean Water Act is one of the most significant tools for states to influence federally permitted activities involving discharges into navigable waters. However, states are required to set conditions within one year or they forgo their ability to do so. In practice, the one-year review is difficult for states to meet and led to a common practice known as “withdraw and resubmit” in which states could reset the clock. But in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, the D.C.