Sierra Club v. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
The Fifth Circuit rejected an environmental group's challenge to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's (LDEQ's) decision to issue preconstruction permits for a liquefied natural gas export facility in Cameron Parish. The group sought to have LDEQ's decision vacated, arguing the facilit...
Center for Biological Diversity v. Regan
A district court denied the state of Florida's motion for a limited stay of the court's prior ruling vacating EPA's approval of Florida's application to assume permitting authority under §404 of the CWA. Environmental groups initially sued, arguing EPA and FWS violated the ESA because neither the p...
Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
A district court denied summary judgment for Native American tribes in a challenge to EPA's approval of Minnesota's 2021 revised water quality standards. The revisions replaced quantitative standards with qualitative narrative standards that describe the characteristics Minnesota waters must have to...
Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's 2022 decision to reinstate a prior waiver of federal preemption of two California regulations concerning automobile emissions under the CAA. States and fossil fuel groups challenged the regulations—a standard limiting greenhouse gas emissions and a requirement that a ...
Environmental Committee of the Florida Electric Power Coordinating Group, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, granted in part and denied in part petitions to review EPA's SIP call for 35 states and the District of Columbia. A group of about half these states as well as companies subject to those SIPs sued, arguing EPA misinterpreted its authority under the CAA when it called for SIPs ...
National Wildlife Federation v. Lohr
A district court granted summary judgment for a conservation group in a challenge to the Natural Resource Conservation Service's (NRCS') 2020 rule regarding certification of maps delineating wetlands. The group argued NRCS changed its policy regarding pre-1996 wetland certifications without exercisi...
Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.
A district court denied a mining company's motion for partial summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning pollution from the company's British Columbia smelter along the Upper Columbia River. Tribal members sought natural resource damages for contamination of the river. The company argued the members' ...
Center for Biological Diversity v. Regan
A district court granted in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to various agency actions relating to EPA's approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority under §404 of the CWA. The groups argued EPA and FWS violated the ESA because n...