The Tenth Circuit held that an Oklahoma city and a Texas city that entered into water contracts with one another lack standing to challenge Oklahoma's water appropriation permitting process as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. The claims at issue here are based on a substantive provisi...

A district court held that a railroad company that operates a railroad-transportation facility in Seattle, Washington, violated the terms of its NDPES permit in violation of CWA §402 and discharged pollutants into U.S. waters in violation of CWA §301. The court granted in part an environmental...

A district court held that environmental groups are entitled to injunctive relief and civil penalties in their CWA citizen suit against a coal company for violating the water quality standards for selenium set forth in its permit. Although an enforcement action was already ongoing in state court...

A district court enjoined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from continuing with its Industrial Canal Lock Replacement Project in New Orleans until it complies with NEPA and the CWA. The canal is a manmade waterway that provides access from Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway to...

The Seventh Circuit denied various states' motion to issue a preliminary injunction compelling the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the emigration of invasive silver and bighead carp through the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan. The states presented sufficient evidence to d...

The Tenth Circuit held that Oklahoma statutes that favor in-state water appropriation permit applicants over out-of-state permit applicants do not violate the Commerce Clause. The case arose after a Texas water district sought permits to appropriate water from Oklahoma for use in Texas. Because Okla...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' suit for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' nationwide permitting program, and, specifically, its use throughout the Appalachian region to issue permits for mining activities. The groups alleged CWA, N...

The D.C. Circuit vacated the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') methodology for tracking bycatch in the fisheries off the Northeastern coast of the United States. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act, requires the NMF...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing parents' suit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for injuries their child allegedly suffered due to exposure to thallium—a toxic heavy metal—from soil dumped into a landfill adjacent to the child's home ...