The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's partial grant of summary judgment for cattle ranchers in a challenge to the Forest Service's decision to apply 1995 riparian mitigation measures to an allotment in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The ranchers argued that the Service's decision ...
In an unpublished opinion, the Fourth Circuit upheld the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant Maryland a CWA §404 permit for a mass transportation project. An environmental group and state residents argued that the Corps granted the permit without considering alternatives other than the optio...
The Tenth Circuit denied a company's petition to review an Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) decision denying its petition to review a 2017 permit issued by EPA to an upstream wastewater treatment plant. In its petition, the company argued the permit constituted backsliding under the CWA, particular...
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a Native American tribe's breach of trust claim in a lawsuit concerning water rights to the Colorado River. The tribe initially sued DOI, arguing the Department violated NEPA and breached its trust obligations based on its management of the ...
The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a ruling in a CWA citizen suit brought against developers of a construction site in Worcester, Massachusetts. An environmental group argued that one developer violated the CWA by failing to obtain a general construction permit, and that both de...
A magistrate judge dismissed a lawsuit concerning ownership of a grazing allotment in the Apache National Forest. Ranchers argued the allotment was privately owned and thus relieved them of any obligation to obtain a cattle grazing permit from the Forest Service or to comply with the permit's requir...
A district court denied a motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit concerning irrigation of a golf course in Big Sky, Montana. Environmental groups argued a Montana water district over-irrigated the course, resulting in nitrogen and other pollutants leaching into groundwater that naturally sit...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a coal company in a lawsuit concerning the company's alleged mine pollution discharges that had been permitted under a CWA permit. Environmental groups argued the company violated SMCRA by discharging pollutants from point sources at its now-inactive ...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Army Corps of Engineers in a challenge to the Corps' issuance of a permit to construct a jetty to prevent beach erosion in North Carolina. An environmental group challenged the issuance of the permit on the ground that numerous analyses conducted ...
The Second Circuit denied a petition to review two FERC orders that determined the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) had waived its authority under §401 of the CWA to issue or deny a water quality certification for a natural gas pipeline project. NYDEC and an environme...