The Sixth Circuit dismissed as moot a lawsuit seeking to preliminarily enjoin EPA's 2015 Clean Water Rule that clarified the definition of "waters of the United States" under the CWA. Ohio and Tennessee challenged the validity of the rule, arguing it extended the scope of the CWA beyond the reach of...

The Second Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court ruling in a lawsuit concerning the discharge of thousands of gallons of oil from a submarine cable into Long Island Sound. A state public power utility company sought to recover costs for containing and remediating the discharge pursuant to the O...

The Ninth Circuit granted in part one petition to review and denied another petition to review EPA's 2014, 2015, and 2017 decisions to register a pesticide that combines two chemicals—2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) choline salt and glyphosate—to kill weeds on corn, soybean, and cotton fi...

A district court stayed the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which substantially narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" that are subject to federal regulation under the CWA, in Colorado. Colorado argued that the Supreme Court's ruling in Rapanos v. United States foreclosed the appr...

A district court denied a motion for preliminary relief in a challenge to the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which substantially narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" that are subject to federal regulation under the CWA. California argued that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers...

The Sixth Circuit reversed, 2-1, a district court ruling that required the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to comply with the ESA and NEPA before approving an oil pipeline operator's response plans for addressing the risk of a potential oil spill. A conservation group ...

The Second Circuit granted in part and denied in part a challenge to provisions of EPA's Mercury Reporting Rule that exempted certain manufacturers of mercury or mercury-added products from reporting requirements. An environmental group and the state of Vermont argued that three provisions of the ru...

A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its duty to update its National Contingency Plan (NCP) for addressing oil and hazardous substance contamination. Environmental groups argued that the current NCP is dangerous because it continues to permit the use of chemical dispe...

The Ninth Circuit vacated EPA's 2018 decision to conditionally register three dicamba-based herbicides designed to be sprayed on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. Nonprofit groups argued the decision violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The court found ...