The Ninth Circuit, in an amended opinion, denied an environmental group's petition challenging EPA's decision to grant two air permits authorizing exploratory drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean by a drillship and its associated fleet of support vessels.

A California court held that San Diego County's climate action plan violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and must be set aside.

The Federal Circuit held that the United States may not use the "unavoidable delay" defense in breach of contract actions stemming from its failure to accept spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the nation's nuclear utilities.

A New York appellate court held that the state's Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law (OGSML) does not preempt, either expressly or impliedly, a municipality's power to enact a local zoning ordinance banning all activities related to the exploration for, and the production or storage of, na

The Ninth Circuit held that a court may not approve a consent decree that substantially and permanently amends regulations that the agency could only otherwise amend by complying with statutory rulemaking procedures.

A district court dismissed with leave to amend environmental groups' lawsuit against EPA alleging that it violated the ESA by failing to undertake required consultations regarding the effects of 382 registered pesticides on endangered and threatened species.

The Eleventh Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a company's cost recovery action under CERCLA for failure to state a claim.

The D.C. Circuit reversed a lower court decision that EPA exceeded its authority under CWA §404(c) when it invalidated an existing U.S. Army Corps of Engineer permit authorizing a mining company to discharge fill material from its mountaintop coal mine into two nearby streams.

The Sixth Circuit struck down the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' reissuance of nationwide permit 21, which authorizes surface coal mining operations to discharge dredged and fill material into waters of the United States.

The D.C. Circuit upheld a consent decree that established a schedule for EPA to initiate notice-and-comment rulemaking and make a formal decision whether to promulgate a new rule revising certain effluent limitations and effluent limitations guidelines under the CWA.