In an unpublished per curiam judgment, the D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to the Service's 2019 rule regarding turtle excluder devices. Environmental groups argued the final rule was not adequately explained, that it was not a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule th...

The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, affirmed summary judgment for BLM in a challenge to the agency's 2003 final rule withdrawing a proposed rule that would have limited the maximum size of "mill sites" for mining claims on federal lands and instead codifying the agency's historical understanding that the governi...

The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review FERC's approval of a project that would expand service on a natural gas pipeline running from western Pennsylvania to the New York metropolitan area. A nonprofit group argued FERC's EIS failed to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from upstream drilli...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, denied two states' motion to enter into a consent decree in a lawsuit concerning a 1938 interstate agreement that apportions the waters of the Rio Grande River among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Texas initially sued Colorado and New Mexico, arguing excessive groundwa...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 6-3, held the Seventh Amendment entitled an investment advisor to a jury trial in an enforcement action initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking civil penalties for securities fraud. The SEC adjudicated the matter administratively, and determined the ...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, granted three states' and several industry groups' applications to stay enforcement of EPA's 2023 rule issuing a federal implementation plan (FIP) for 23 states whose SIPs the Agency determined had failed to adequately address new air quality standards for ozone levels u...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 6-3, held the APA requires courts to exercise independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority and that courts may not defer to an agency's interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous, overruling Chevron U.S.A. In...

A district court adopted a magistrate judge's findings and recommendations to remand to state court a climate liability lawsuit brought by an Oregon county against oil and gas companies. The county initially sued in state court, arguing the companies failed to warn consumers about the negative effec...

The Ninth Circuit reversed in part summary judgment for the operators of a marine cargo terminal on Puget Sound in a CWA citizen suit concerning stormwater discharges. An environmental group argued the operators were liable for discharges from the facility's entire footprint, including an area known...

The Fourth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a TSCA citizen suit concerning EPA's decision on a petition to require testing for 54 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Four citizen groups argued that EPA's decision, which granted the petition and agreed to require testing on PFAS as a class throu...