The Tenth Circuit rejected EPA's decision to deny an oil company's request for an exemption from the blending requirement under the Renewable Fuel Standards Program of the CAA. In 2005, Congress amended the CAA to require refiners and importers to blend biofuels into gasoline to cut down on greenhou...

A district court allowed suits against two manufacturing companies to go forward for groundwater contamination. Residents of Hoosick Falls, New York, brought suit against the manufacturers after they discovered perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in their water supply. The residents, in 16 consolidated ca...

A California appellate court held that the Water District of Orange County may pursue state Superfund claims for groundwater contamination. In 1998, the District discovered two VOCs in groundwater drawn from the South Basin area. In 2001, perchlorate was discovered in a well, leading the District to...

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA overstepped its authority under the CAA when it banned the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in products. In 2015, EPA issued a rule that restricted the manufacture of products containing HFCs. EPA based this decision on its authority to regulate "ozone depleting substa...

The Tenth Circuit held that a mining company has the right to recover cleanup costs at a Superfund site because the U.S. government was an owner under the statute. Over the last century, the mining company and its corporate predecessors mined molybdenum at a site near Questa, New Mexico. The mining ...

A district court held that New York's Zero-Emission Credit (ZEC) program is not preempted by federal law. In an effort to curb the effects of global warming, New York issued a Clean Energy Standard (CES) Order that created two programs, one being ZEC. A ZEC is a “credit for the zero-emissions attr...

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA must justify emissions limits set for certain hazardous air pollutants. The CAA requires EPA to set limits for seven different hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). In 2015, the Agency claimed to have identified sources of these pollutants and set emissions limits for them....

A district court rejected a public utility's attempt at a global settlement with those impacted by a 2014 chemical spill into West Virginia's Elk River. On January 9, 2014, over 224,000 residents of Charleston, West Virginia, and the surrounding area suffered an interruption in their water supply ca...

A district court held that an agriculture company cannot pursue Superfund cost recovery against Spokane, Washington, over polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in the Spokane River. The company produced PCBs from 1935 to 1970 that the city of Spokane claimed contributed to the impairment of t...

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA's verified recycler exclusion under RCRA was unreasonable. In 2015, EPA issued a final rule rule governing when certain hazardous materials qualify as “discarded,” subjecting them to the Agency's authority. The new rule required generators of waste to meet special ...