The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's decision not to issue financial responsibility requirements for the hard-rock mining industry. Environmental groups argued the decision violated CERCLA by wrongly interpreting the term "risk" in the operative provisions as limited to the risk of taxpayer-funded response...

A state appellate court held invalid the Department of Ecology's administrative rule establishing summer minimum instream flows for the lower reach of the Spokane River. Environmental groups challenged the validity of the rule, arguing that it exceeded the Department's authority under the Water Reso...

The D.C. Circuit upheld an EPA rule that classified as "recycled" certain hazardous material sent to a third-party reclamation facility and thus exempted the material from RCRA regulations governing discarded waste. Environmental groups argued the rule violated RCRA because material that a generator...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed a petition to review EPA's order denying an environmental group's objection to renewal of a Title V operating permit for a power plant in Utah. The group objected that the renewal permit incorporated requirements in a 1997 Title I preconstruction permit that was based on a...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed in part and denied in part a petition to review EPA's 2016 revisions to its ambient air quality monitoring system regulations. An environmental group argued that the revisions violated the CAA by not requiring states to give advance notice and hold a public hearing when ma...

A district court denied Oklahoma's motion to preliminarily enjoin EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing their 2015 Clean Water Rule. The state sought to enjoin the 2015 Rule from being enforced until a final judgment was entered in the case. But the court found the potential harm f...

A district court granted states' and industry groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 2015 Clean Water Rule. The states and groups argued that the final rulemaking violated the notice-and-comment requirements under the APA because the rulemak...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a challenge to the use of lead ammunition in Kaibab National Forest. Environmental groups sought to require the U.S. Forest Service to address the use of lead ammunition by hunters in the national forest, alleging the the Service's failure t...

A district court granted in part summary judgment against EPA for failure to implement its 2016 Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. Eight states argued that the Agency failed to implement and enforce the guidelines by (1) failing to approve or disapprove exi...

A state court reversed the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's approval of a water use permit for a proposed silver-copper mine in Montana's Cabinet Mountains. An environmental group argued that the Department ignored data in the mining company's permit application indicating ...