The D.C. Circuit vacated in part EPA's 2019 rule lifting seasonal restrictions on the sale of higher-ethanol fuel. Petroleum industry groups challenged a specific section of the rule, in which EPA announced a new interpretation of when limits on fuel volatility under §7545(h)(4) of the CAA could be...
The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed an appellate court ruling in a lawsuit concerning Volkswagen’s efforts to cheat U.S. diesel emissions tests. Ohio sued the company, arguing its post-sale tampering with emissions control systems violated the state’s Air Pollution Control Act (APCA). The company mo...
A district court dismissed a lawsuit concerning the city of Chicago’s delay in issuing an operating permit for a recycling facility in the city’s Southeast Side neighborhood. The company argued its constitutional rights were being violated as a result of the city’s delay of the permit review p...
The Iowa Supreme Court reversed, 4-3, a lower court order denying Iowa's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups seeking to reduce fertilizer and waste runoff from farms into the Racoon River. The groups sought to force the state, its agencies, and a number of its officials to enact ...
A district court granted summary judgment for EPA in a FOIA lawsuit brought by a nonprofit group. The group requested a 2018 draft version of the Agency's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) formaldehyde assessment. EPA withheld the assessment under the deliberative process privilege, and the ...
The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning reporting requirements for emissions following fires at a steel facility near Pittsburgh. An environmental group argued the facility operator should have reported the emissions to the federal government pursuant to CERCLA in addition to re...
A district court dismissed two Pennsylvania state senators' challenge to the Delaware River Basin Commission's imposition of a moratorium on gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware Basin. The senators argued, among other things, that the moratorium exceeded the Commission's authority. ...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a county in South Carolina in a lawsuit concerning the county's alleged taking of honey sellers' bees. The sellers argued their bees died after the county sprayed pesticide in an effort to kill mosquitoes, and thus constituted a Fifth Amendment taking...
A district court denied nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to EPA's failure to consult with FWS and NMFS before announcing a temporary nonenforcement policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the policy having since been terminated, the groups sought to compel EPA t...
A district court overrode the Biden Administration's objections to a lawsuit challenging President Trump's issuance of a presidential permit in 2019 for construction of a cross-border segment of the Keystone XL pipeline. Environmental groups argued the former president violated the Property Clause, ...