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 D.C. Circuit dismissed for lack of standing a petition to review a 2016 EPA rule concerning greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty engines and vehicles. A coalition representing businesses that make and sell aftermarket car products challenged the rule'...
The D.C. Circuit dismissed an oil company's petition to review EPA's response concerning the decommissioning status of two oil platforms off the California coast. The company initially asked EPA for guidance on whether, as the process moves forward, the platforms would cease to qualify as regulated ...
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 U.S. Supreme Court held, 6-3, that President Barack Obama's EPA had exceeded its statutory authority under §111(d) of the CAA when it promulgated the Clean Power Plan to address carbon dioxide pollution from existing power plants. States and coal companies had petitioned for review of the plan,...
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 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...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's allowance of livestock grazing in the Stanislaus National Forest. The groups argued the grazing led to fecal matter runoff that polluted streams in the area, impai...