A district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Hawaiian resident alleging that an early start to a county construction project harmed two endangered species—the Hawaiian hawk and Hawaiian hoary bat—in violation of the ESA. The resident argued that the county violated its EIS by allowing const...
The Fifth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' challenge to EPA's issuance of a CWA general permit authorizing discharges from oil and gas facilities operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued that EPA violated NEPA by failing to prepare an adequate EIS before issuing the permit...
A federal district court granted the city of Baltimore's motion to remand to state court its climate change case against oil companies. The city alleged it sustained climate change-related injuries from greenhouse gas pollution to which the companies had substantially contributed. The companies argu...
The Sixth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' petition to review air pollution control permits issued by Ohio's Environmental Protection Agency for two natural gas compressor stations along a natural gas pipeline that runs from Ohio to Michigan. The groups argued that the permits were invalid be...
A district court denied public interest groups' motion for partial summary judgment in challenging an Executive Order that required federal agencies to repeal two existing rules for each new rule promulgated. The groups argued they established associational standing based on injuries that two of the...
A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin a pipeline company from continuing construction on an oil pipeline in the Atchafalaya Basin. The groups sought the injunction to prevent alleged irreparable harm to the basin, arguing that the company was violating key perm...
The U.S. Sentencing Commission proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines for U.S. courts.
The Arizona Supreme Court vacated a ruling that a Native American tribe sufficiently alleged standing to bring a public nuisance claim against a resort using reclaimed wastewater to make artificial snow on the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. Before the lower court, the tribe argued that the...
A Texas court, ruling on a petition for pre-suit discovery, held that it would have jurisdiction over a major oil corporation's potential lawsuit against several California cities that have filed suit against it relating to climate change. The company's potential claims would allege, among other thi...
A district court granted California cities' motions to remand their climate change tort actions against oil and gas companies back to state court. Although their state law claims raise national and perhaps global questions, they should not have been removed to federal court. Removal based on federal...