Weekly Cases Update Volume 42, Issue 21

Robinson Township v. Commonwealth

ELR 20158

284 (Commw. Ct. Pa., July 2012)

A Pennsylvania appellate court partially struck down Act 13, which pertains to oil and gas operations in the Marcellus Shale, as unconstitutional. The Act repealed Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act and replaced it with a codified statutory framework regulating oil and gas operations in the...

Keywords: Energy (generally), Land use, Zoning

National Chicken Council v. Environmental Protection Agency

ELR 20156

10-1107 (D.C. Cir., July 2012)

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The D.C. Circuit dismissed a petition challenging an EPA rule issued under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) concerning ethanol fuel. The EISA directed EPA to promulgate regulations ensuring that transportation fuel sold in the United States contains certain minimum levels...

Keywords: Energy (generally)

National Environmental Development Ass'n Clean Air Project v. Environmental Protection Agency

ELR 20155

10-1252 (D.C. Cir., July 2012)

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The D.C. Circuit dismissed petitions challenging EPA's primary NAAQS for sulfur dioxide (SO2). The petitioners—several states, state regulatory agencies, corporations, and industrial associations—argued that EPA failed to follow the APA's notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures because it did...

Keywords: Review and revision, §109(d)

Idaho Conservation League v. Atlanta Gold Corp.

ELR 20145

1:11cv-00161-MHW (D. Idaho, July 2012)

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A district court ordered a mining company to comply with the CWA by October 31, 2012, and to pay over $2 million in penalties for CWA violations in Montezuma Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork Boise River near Atlanta, Idaho. Environmental groups filed suit against the company for...

Keywords: Violations

American Petroleum Institute v. Environmental Protection Agency

ELR 20157

10-1079 (D.C. Cir., July 2012)

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The D.C. Circuit denied petitions challenging EPA's one-hour primary NAAQS for nitrogen dioxide (NOx). The new one-hour primary NAAQS requires that “the three-year average of the annual 98th percentile of the daily maximum one-hour average concentration be less than or equal to 100 parts per...

Keywords: Review and revision, §109(d)

Natural Resources Defense Council v. Salazar

ELR 20153

09-17661 (9th Cir., July 2012)

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The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Reclamation did not violate the ESA when it renewed 41 water service contracts in California despite concerns over the endangered delta smelt. Conservation groups argued that the Bureau renewed the contracts without conducting an adequate consultation...

Keywords: Jeopardize species/habitat, §7(a)(2)

Borough of Paulsboro v. Essex Chemical Co.

ELR 20160

A-5248-10T4 (Sup. Ct. N.J., July 2012)

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A New Jersey appellate court held that a town that acquired property containing a former landfill in an eminent domain action cannot require part of the condemnation award to be set aside for remediation purposes. The state's highest court has previously held that contaminated property acquired...

Keywords: Condemnation

Sanders-Reed v. Martinez

ELR 20159

D-101-CV-2011-01514 (D.N.M., July 2012)

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A district court held that a minor may bring a climate change lawsuit against the state of New Mexico under the public trust doctrine. The minor made a substantive allegation that, notwithstanding statutes enacted by the New Mexico legislature that enable the state to set air quality standards,...

Keywords: Climate Change (generally)

Weekly Cases Update Volume 42, Issue 21

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