A district court denied motions to remand and vacate EPA's decision to allow a no-discharge zone in Puget Sound. A tugboat, towboat, and barge industry group argued that EPA erred in determining that adequate pump-out facilities were reasonably available without considering the compliance costs for ...
A district court denied EPA's request to stay a previous order requiring it to comply with its 2016 Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. Eight states had argued that the Agency failed to implement and enforce the guidelines by, among other things, failing to ...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed judgment for environmental groups in a CWA challenge to compel EPA to develop and issue long-overdue temperature TMDLs for the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The groups argued that inaction by Oregon and Washington to issue TMDLs for the two rivers amounted to a "constructive ...
Millions of tons of plastic enter the environment every year, killing wildlife, releasing toxins, clogging drains, and marring landscapes. Bans or restrictions on single-use plastics have exploded in popularity in recent years as a means of addressing these problems. Yet these bans remain controversial, with some businesses pushing back against what they consider excessive regulation and others maintaining that banning single-use plastics uses political capital that could be spent advancing more urgent and systemic agendas.
A state appellate court reversed the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's decision to reissue a NPDES permit for an iron ore mine in northeast Minnesota. An environmental group and Indian band challenged the decision, arguing that the agency erred in its interpretation of the CWA and that the permit...
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court order denying the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board's petition to enforce subpoenas issued against an oil company following an explosion and chemical release at one of its refineries. The district court found that 29 of the subpoenas were enforceable, ...
A state court preliminarily enjoined the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) from enforcing new rules that tightened allowable limits of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the state's drinking water and groundwater. A chemical manufacturing company argued that DES vio...
A district court held that environmental groups lacked standing in their challenge to EPA's exclusion of certain waste treatment systems from the definition of navigable waters under the CWA. The groups argued that they had representational standing to challenge the exclusion, relying on declaration...
A district court upheld EPA's interpretation that the CWA does not regulate discharges into groundwater that is hydrologically connected to navigable waters in a lawsuit concerning a wastewater treatment facility on Cape Cod. An environmental group argued that the facility was discharging pollutants...
A district court denied summary judgment in a challenge to EPA's approval of Maryland's 2018 water quality report, which reclassified 139 impairment listings based on TMDLs set by the Agency for the entire Chesapeake Bay. Environmental groups argued that EPA exceeded its authority under the CWA by a...