A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision dismissing environmental groups' lawsuit against a city for violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in connection with its approval of a company's proposal to build a large distribution facility. The city filed a notice o...
The Supreme Court of Hawaii vacated and remanded the interim instream flow standards set by Hawaii's Commission on Water Resource Management for the Waihe'e River and the Waiehu, 'Iao, and Waikapu streams, collectively referred to as Na Wai 'Eha, or "the four great waters of Maui." In considering th...
The Fifth Circuit vacated EPA's disapproval of Texas's flexible permit program under the CAA. Texas submitted the program to EPA as a revision to its SIP and as a new feature of the state's minor new source review (NSR) regime. Under the program, modifications to facilities could be made without add...
The Eighth Circuit held that costs a developer incurred to reduce pollution on a property it owns in Brainerd, Minnesota, that had formerly been owned by a railway company were not removal costs and thus not recoverable under the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (MERLA). Although n...
The Fifth Circuit upheld an EPA rule partially approving and partially disapproving revisions to Texas' SIP concerning civil penalties for excess emissions resulting from startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) activities. Environmental petitioners sought review of EPA's decision to approve a revis...
A Pennsylvania appellate court partially struck down Act 13, which pertains to oil and gas operations in the Marcellus Shale, as unconstitutional. The Act repealed Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act and replaced it with a codified statutory framework regulating oil and gas operations in the Commonweal...
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that under state law, a town may not impose conditions on a livestock siting permit to protect surface and groundwater. The state legislature has strictly limited the ability of political subdivisions to regulate the livestock facility siting process. The town ove...
A California appellate court upheld a local air district rule that requires manufacturers of consumer paint thinner and solvent products to limit the use of ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their products. The district issued to rule to satisfy its federal CAA commitments. A pa...
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a petition to vacate the state wildlife board's decision to pay $9.98 million from the California Habitat Conservation Fund to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project. The pe...