The D.C. Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court's dismissal of a conservation group's suit to block the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from constructing a border wall near the National Butterfly Center in southern Texas. The group argued that the Department's presence on ...

A district court held that William Perry Pendley was unlawfully serving as the acting director of BLM. The governor of Montana and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation argued that Pendley was unlawfully serving as the acting director in violation of the Appointments Clause, t...

The First Circuit amended a previous ruling vacating an air permit issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) for a proposed natural gas compressor station that is part of a pipeline connecting the northeastern United States and Canada. The court had found that MDEP fa...

The Third Circuit granted a petition to review EPA's approval of Pennsylvania's proposed NAAQS for ozone. An environmental group argued the standards wrongly claimed to reduce pollution output at the state's most advanced coal-burning power plants while "simply rubberstamping an average of current p...

The Seventh Circuit reversed the denial of transmission companies' motion to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the Wisconsin Public Service Commission's approval of a $500 million electricity transmission line in southwestern Wisconsin. Environmental groups challenged the approval on constitutional...

The Fourth Circuit dismissed a petition to vacate or set aside the FAA's modification to a series of flight routes that caused residents of historic areas of a county in Maryland to endure "insufferable levels of noise." The county argued that the FAA failed to comply with environmental statutes and...

The D.C. Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part a petition to review EPA's guidance concerning the process of certifying cellulosic biofuel. A biofuel company argued the guidance was a legislative rule that was invalidly promulgated without notice and comment, conflicted with the regulation it...

A district court granted states' motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning EPA's duty to limit air pollution drifting from upwind states into northeastern states. Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York argued that EPA failed to fulfill a nondiscretionary duty under ...

The Fifth Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court decision that imposed penalties against an oil company for alleged CAA permit violations at its industrial complex in Baytown, Texas. Environmental groups filed a CAA citizen suit against the company, alleging violations that occurred thousands of...

A district court denied the U.S. government summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning California's cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec. The government argued the agreement was conflict preempted by the foreign affairs doctrine because it created an obstacle to the effectuation of the Global Climate P...