A district court held the CWA's citizen suit provision does not allow for judicial review of EPA's decision to disapprove Maine's water quality standards. In 2015, EPA issued a formal decision in which it approved some of Maine’s water quality standards but disapproved three of Maine’s human hea...

A district court, on motions for summary judgment, dismissed a lawsuit against EPA filed by a group of beekeepers, farmers, and organizations concerned about the effect of pesticide-treated seeds on bees and other pollinators. The plaintiffs argued that the practice of coating seeds with neonicotino...

The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court decision enjoining two wildfire reduction projects in the Gallatin National Forest—the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Project and the East Boulder Project—because FWS and the U.S. Forest Service failed to adequately assess impacts on lynx critical habitat in v...

The Ninth Circuit upheld NMFS' decision to list a distinct population segment (DPS) of the Pacific bearded seal under the ESA based on future impacts of climate change. Using climate projections, NMFS determined that even though the species is not presently endangered, the loss of sea ice over shall...

A district court held that an Illinois excavation company was liable under the CWA for discharging pollutants into a river without a permit. The company discharged concrete, dirt, and other pollutants on the banks and bed of the Green River during its construction and maintenance of a levee. The com...

The Sixth Circuit, in litigation over the "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) rule, held that an internal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers memorandum critical of the rule's technical analysis may be included in the record. Petitioners argued that the litigation record omits several materials that were...