The Ninth Circuit upheld EPA's approval of Nevada's SIP for regional haze. In the SIP, Nevada provided reasonable progress goals for attaining natural visibility conditions at the Jarbridge Wilderness Area in remote northeastern Nevada, the state’s only Class I federal area. The SIP further requir...

The D.C. Circuit upheld a $72 million judgment against an automobile manufacturer for violating a consent decree requiring certain model year 2005 engines to comply with EPA’s model-year 2006 nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions standard. In 1998, EPA alleged that several major engine manufacturers viol...

A California appellate court held that interim renewal contracts concerning BLM's ongoing provision of Central Valley Project water to California water districts are exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The purpose of the interim renewal contracts w...

The Iowa Supreme Court held that a solar energy company is not a public utility under state law. The case arose after a city sought to enter into a prospective purchaser agreement with the company to supply a portion of the city's electricity needs at certain city premises. On the company's petition...

The Fifth Circuit held that notices of violations EPA sent to two power plant operators for alleged CAA violations were not "final agency action" and, hence, not subject to judicial review. In the notices, EPA claimed that the operators violated the Act's PSD provisions in connection with certain ph...

A district court held that a doctor lacks standing to challenge a Pennsylvania law that prohibits doctors from disclosing the mixture of chemical fluids used during hydraulic fracturing when treating patients for chemical exposure. Doctors have a professional and ethical obligation to communicate cr...

New York's highest court held that local governments may ban oil and gas production activities, including hydraulic fracturing, through the adoption of local zoning laws. The case arose after two towns enacted zoning laws banning hydraulic fracturing within their jurisdictions. A private gas company...

The Colorado Supreme Court upheld ballot initiatives that would expand local governments' authority to enact laws regulating oil and gas development that are more restrictive than state law. The initiatives contain just one subject, and the titles fairly reflect the purpose of the initiatives and ar...

The Supreme Court of Utah dismissed an environmental group's lawsuit challenging the state's issuance of a discharge permit for a tar sands bitumen-extraction project in the Uintah Basin. The original discharge permit was granted by the Utah Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in 2008. In 2011, the Utah...

The Supreme Court of Texas held that an oil and gas company may use a road on landowner's property to access its underground mineral rights. The company held an interest oil and gas rights under the landowners' property in addition to several adjoining tracts. In 2000, it pooled the tracts, thereby ...