A district court granted summary judgment for nonprofit groups in a challenge to an Iowa statute aimed at preventing them from recording images or videos of conditions in slaughterhouses and other animal facilities. The groups argued that the statute impermissibly restricted their First Amendment fr...
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...
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 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 Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's denial of an oil and gas company's motion to dismiss a civil enforcement action brought by the Massachusetts attorney general (AG) based on the company's communications with investors and consumers concerning the impact of climate change. The ...
A district court denied environmental groups' motion for partial summary judgment in a CAA citizen suit brought against a steel company concerning hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide emissions at its production facilities in Pennsylvania. The groups argued the company repeatedly violated the CAA, th...
The First Circuit affirmed the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's (MDEP's) decision to issue an air permit for a natural gas compressor station in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Neighboring cities and individuals argued MDEP failed to follow its own established procedures by eliminatin...
The Court of Federal Claims entered judgment for the U.S. government in a takings challenge against FWS for rerouting spring waters that had previously flowed through church property into a restoration channel in an effort to save a native fish species. The church argued the berm FWS installed upstr...
The Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part a petition to review EPA's final rule approving California's SIP for meeting the air quality standard for ozone in the San Joaquin Valley. An environmental group argued the SIP's contingency measure was inadequate because it provided only a nomina...