The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a coal company in a lawsuit concerning the company's alleged mine pollution discharges that had been permitted under a CWA permit. Environmental groups argued the company violated SMCRA by discharging pollutants from point sources at its now-inactive ...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Army Corps of Engineers in a challenge to the Corps' issuance of a permit to construct a jetty to prevent beach erosion in North Carolina. An environmental group challenged the issuance of the permit on the ground that numerous analyses conducted ...
The Second Circuit denied a petition to review two FERC orders that determined the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) had waived its authority under §401 of the CWA to issue or deny a water quality certification for a natural gas pipeline project. NYDEC and an environme...
A state court reversed the Maryland Department of the Environment's (MDE's) decision to reissue an NPDES general permit for animal feeding operations without limitations on the discharge of gaseous ammonia. An environmental group argued the permit was deficient under both the CWA and state law becau...
The Fourth Circuit granted a pipeline company's petition to review the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's (NCDEQ's) denial of a CWA §401 certification for construction of a natural gas pipeline. The company argued the denial was arbitrary and capricious because NCDEQ did not compl...
The Tenth Circuit reversed and vacated a district court order preliminarily enjoining EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) in Colorado. Colorado argued the agencies violated the APA because the NWPR was not in accordance with the law,...
The Fourth Circuit stayed a pipeline company's use of a nationwide permit, verified by the Army Corps of Engineers, to carry out construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in streams and rivers along the pipeline's route. Environmental groups argued the verification was unlawful because the Corps ...
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed vacatur of a Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) permit issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for a copper and silver mine in the Cabinet Mountains. Environmental groups argued, among other things, that MDEQ unlawfully ...
A district court denied mine owners' motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging they were in violation of their NPDES permit. A conservation group and the state of Washington argued that the owners had violated the terms of their permit by discharging pollutants in excess of average monthly effluent limit...
A district court vacated EPA's 2019 determination that found no jurisdictional waters under the CWA at a salt production complex bordering the southwestern San Francisco Bay. The Agency argued that the CWA did not apply to the complex because it was converted to salt ponds prior to the Act's passage...