A Colorado court upheld a city's decision to create a local electric utility. An electric company argued that the city council exceeded its authority when it created the utility. But the company missed the 28-day deadline for challenging quasi-judicial decisions. When the city declared that the cond...

A Washington court ordered the state's environmental agency to reconsider its denial of youths' petition asking the agency to adopt rulemaking to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with the best available science. The youths had also petitioned the agency to recommend to the state le...

Georgia's highest court held that the state's 25-foot buffer zone for development projects along state waters does not apply to wetlands. The applicable statute does not require a buffer for state waters alongside banks without "wrested vegetation." The language at issue states, in pertinent part: "...

The Supreme Court of Alaska reversed a lower court decision that plaintiffs challenging land and water use permits allowing intensive mineral exploration in Alaska's prospective Pebble Mine had "sufficient economic incentive" to warrant the imposition of attorney fees against them. The plaintiffs ha...

The Supreme Court of Alaska held that the state's Department of Natural Resources should have provided public notice before issuing land and water use permits allowing intensive mineral exploration in the prospective Pebble Mine. The Alaska Constitution requires public notice when interests in land ...

A district court held that a PRP established the divisibility defense and, therefore, is not jointly and severally liable for cleanup costs at the Lower Fox River Superfund site in Wisconsin. On remand from the Seventh Circuit, the district court was ordered to reconsider the PRP's divisibility defe...

The D.C. Circuit ordered EPA to submit a timeline for when it will issue its financial assurance rules under CERCLA to ensure that industries that handle hazardous substances have the financial means to clean up any releases. It has been nearly 30 years since Congress charged EPA with issuing such r...

A district court held that a corporation subject to an EPA unilateral administrative order (UAO) in connection with the Columbia Nitrogen Superfund site in Charleston, South Carolina, may seek contribution under CERCLA §113 and not §107. Defendant companies argued that the corporation was preclude...