An Illinois appellate court held that the Illinois Pollution Control Board erred when it upheld the state environmental agency's decision to reissue NPDES permits for three large water reclamation plants in the Chicago area. Petitioners argued that the permits fail to include conditions ensuring tha...

The Ninth Circuit held that EPA did not act arbitrarily and capriciously when it disapproved in part Arizona's regional haze SIP and issued a replacement federal implementation plan (FIP) in place of the disapproved SIP elements. First, EPA did not act arbitrarily and capriciously when it disapprove...

West Virginia's highest court held that individuals' lawsuit against a power company for injuries they allegedly incurred due to their exposure to coal combustion waste may go forward in the West Virginia courts even though the vast majority of plaintiffs live outside the state. Of the 77 named plai...

The Washington Supreme Court held that a local initiative to create a "Community Bill of Rights" which, among other things, would give the Spokane River its own water rights, including the rights to sustainable recharge, sufficient flows to support native fish, and clean water, may not be placed on ...

A district court held that environmental and animal rights groups may challenge the constitutionality of two trespass statutes passed by the Wyoming legislature in 2015. Under the statutes—one imposing criminal liability and the other imposing civil—a person will be held liable if he or she: (1)...

A New Jersey appellate court, in an unpublished opinion, reversed and remanded portions of a lower court summary judgment against a corporation, its principal, and a general partnership for costs related to remediation of the site of a former thermometer manufacturing plant. The corporation and the ...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a natural gas company charged with violating the state's Clean Streams Law may seek preenforcement judicial review of the state environmental agency's interpretation of the statute's penalty provisions. The agency, which has assessed ongoing, multimillion dol...

A New York appellate court upheld a lower court decision invalidating a water sales agreement that would have allowed a town to sell approximately one million gallons per day from its water supply to an energy company for drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania. Despite the town's conclusi...

The California Supreme Court held that agencies subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) generally are not required to analyze the impact of existing environmental conditions on a project's future users or residents. But when a proposed project risks exacerbating those environmenta...

A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a dispute between a Native American tribe and the state of Maine concerning the tribe's regulatory jurisdiction and fishing rights along the main stem of the Penobscot River. The court agreed with the tribe tha...