The Fourth Circuit granted a pipeline company's petition to review the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's (NCDEQ's) denial of a CWA §401 certification for construction of a natural gas pipeline. The company argued the denial was arbitrary and capricious because NCDEQ did not compl...
The Tenth Circuit reversed and vacated a district court order preliminarily enjoining EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) in Colorado. Colorado argued the agencies violated the APA because the NWPR was not in accordance with the law,...
A district court granted nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to EPA's denial of their petitions to initiate TSCA rulemaking to expand its information-gathering process regarding asbestos-related health risks. The groups argued that EPA's denial of their petitions was arbitra...
The Fourth Circuit stayed a pipeline company's use of a nationwide permit, verified by the Army Corps of Engineers, to carry out construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in streams and rivers along the pipeline's route. Environmental groups argued the verification was unlawful because the Corps ...
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed vacatur of a Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) permit issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for a copper and silver mine in the Cabinet Mountains. Environmental groups argued, among other things, that MDEQ unlawfully ...
A California appellate court upheld the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's (OEHHA's) decision to list bisphenol A (BPA) as a chemical known to cause reproductive toxicity under the state Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. An industry group sought to enjoin the listi...
A district court denied mine owners' motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging they were in violation of their NPDES permit. A conservation group and the state of Washington argued that the owners had violated the terms of their permit by discharging pollutants in excess of average monthly effluent limit...
A district court vacated EPA's 2019 determination that found no jurisdictional waters under the CWA at a salt production complex bordering the southwestern San Francisco Bay. The Agency argued that the CWA did not apply to the complex because it was converted to salt ponds prior to the Act's passage...
A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to a 2018 FWS memorandum that withdrew a 2014 memorandum stating the Service's intent to phase out most uses of neonicotinoid pesticides and genetically modified crops (GMCs) within the National Wildlife Refuge System. Environmental groups ...
A district court denied a motion to reconsider its 2018 ruling that gave EPA discretion as to how to establish a new TMDL for trash in the Anacostia River. An environmental group argued that little progress had been made since the 2018 ruling and that the court should require the Agency to establish...