A district court granted 11 states' motion to preliminarily enjoin EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the "waters of the United States" rule, also known as the WOTUS rule or Clean Water Rule. The states demonstrated a likelihood of success on their claims that the rule was pr...

A district court granted South Carolina's motion to preliminarily enjoin DOE from terminating a mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facility project currently under construction until the case can be decided on its merits. The project is designed to turn weapons-grade plutonium into commercial reactor fuel...

A district court ordered EPA to issue federal implementation plans fully resolving interstate transport obligations under the CAA's "good neighbor" provision for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. EPA conceded that it missed the deadline to do so under the Act. The Agency also acknowledged that it was feasible t...

The Tenth Circuit refused to stay pending interlocutory appeal a lower court order staying BLM's waste prevention rule, which was issued to reduce the venting, flaring, and leaking of natural gas emissions during oil and gas production activities on onshore federal land. California, New Mexico, and ...

The D.C. Circuit upheld amendments EPA made to its CAA regional consistency regulations that allow regional offices to act counter to national policies when ordered to do so by federal circuit courts. EPA issued the amended regulations in 2016 in response to the D.C. Circuit's decision in National E...

The Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that CERCLA preempts state tort law claims brought by residents living near the Onondaga Lake Superfund site. The owner of the site undertook remedial action pursuant to a federal consent decree. The residents argued, on a state tort law theory, tha...

The D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's placement of the West Vermont Drinking Water Contamination site, a site of groundwater contamination beneath Indianapolis, Indiana, on the NPL. EPA used the hazard ranking system (HRS) to determine whether listing was appropriate. As part of that process, EPA assessed ...

The Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction enjoining California Department of Public Health officials from enforcing the California Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA) against a medical waste facility with regard to how it disposes of medical waste at facilities outside the state. The facilit...

The Ninth Circuit held that a property owner who purchased the site at a tax sale is not entitled to CERCLA's third-party defense to liability for cleanup costs. The purchaser had a "contractual relationship" with the prior owner by virtue of the tax sale. Given the breadth of CERCLA's definition of...

A district court dismissed an environmental groups' lawsuit challenging EPA's decision to stay a 2015 CWA rule concerning effluent limitations for steam electric power plants. The rule addressed effluent limitations and standards for six waste streams generated by steam electric power plants: bottom...