The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to the Delaware River Basin Commission's ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin. Pennsylvania state senators, a state caucus, and several municipalities argued the Commission exceeded its authority under the Delaware Ri...
The New Mexico Supreme Court overturned regulations promulgated by the State Game Commission in 2017 that outlined a process for landowners to obtain a certificate allowing them to close public access to segments of public water flowing over private property. Outdoor recreation advocates challenged ...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a 2019 Texas law that allows only owners of existing transmission lines in the state to build, own, or operate new lines that connect to existing lines. A company seeking to enter the state...
A district court denied a request by conservation groups to halt all construction on a transmission line project from Iowa to Wisconsin pending the transmission companies' appeal of a prior order enjoining construction of a section of the line across the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and...
The Ninth Circuit vacated FERC orders that held the California Water Resources Control Board had waived its authority to ensure certain hydroelectric projects complied with state water quality standards. The Board and environmental groups petitioned the court to review FERC's findings that the Board...
The Nevada Supreme Court held, 4-3, that the state's top water official had authority to approve a groundwater management plan (GMP) that deviated from the doctrine of prior appropriation for the over-appropriated Diamond Valley Hydrologic Basin. Senior rights holders in the basin sought to invalida...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review FERC's order approving the Independent System Operator for New England's (ISO-NE's) tariff revisions that compensated power plants for maintaining up to three days' worth of fuel on-site to generate electricity during winter mon...
The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC's approval of a dam operator's flood protection plan for a nearby water pump station in North Carolina. A city petitioned for review of FERC's approval of the plan, a state-imposed condition of its water quality certification under the CWA, which involved raising the pum...
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court's denial of a motion to dismiss a CWA citizen suit concerning the release of contaminated water from an inactive gold mine in Colorado. Nearby farmers filed suit in a New Mexico district court, alleging several state-law claims. A hazardous waste managemen...
In an en banc decision, the First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for an environmental group in a CWA citizen suit against developers of a construction site in Massachusetts. The group argued the developers violated the CWA by failing to comply with the construction ge...