The U.S. Supreme Court held, 5-4, that the CWA does not authorize EPA to include "end-result" provisions in NPDES permits, in a lawsuit concerning the Agency's issuance of a renewal permit for the city of San Francisco that added two such requirements. The city petitioned for review, arguing the req...
A district court granted an electric transmission developer's motion for preliminary injunction against Indiana's 2023 law that granted incumbent transmission owners a right of first refusal to build transmission projects in their service areas. The developer argued the law blocked it from bidding o...
A district court granted in part nonprofit and public interest groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') 2020 rule concerning regulation of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The groups argued the rule effectively abandoned fe...
A district court granted summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit alleging that an equestrian center was unlawfully discharging pollutants into waters of the United States. The group argued the center discharged wastewater into adjacent waters without an NPDES permit, which it was re...
A district court vacated the Army Corps of Engineers' permit approvals under the CWA and the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA) for development of a new port along the Delaware River. Three upriver ports challenged the Corps' decisionmaking process under the APA. The court found the Corps did not engage i...
A district court held that the Army Corps of Engineers violated the CWA and NEPA by issuing a dredge-and-fill permit to a municipal water utility to allow a dam expansion project in Denver. Environmental groups argued the Corps violated the CWA by excluding alternatives as impracticable based on an ...
In an unpublished opinion, the Sixth Circuit granted environmental groups' motion to stay CWA permits issued for construction of a proposed pipeline in Tennessee. The groups argued the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Army Corps of Engineers violated the CWA by fai...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part a trade group's petition to review the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA's) 2022 revised safety standards for natural gas transportation. The group challenged five of the standards, alleging flaws in the rulemaking pro...
The D.C. Circuit affirmed a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order licensing a new satellite system. An environmental group argued the FCC's decision not to perform an environmental review of light pollution and atmospheric effects of the system violated NEPA. The court found the license fell...
The Ninth Circuit reversed in part summary judgment for the operators of a marine cargo terminal on Puget Sound in a CWA citizen suit concerning stormwater discharges. An environmental group argued the operators were liable for discharges from the facility's entire footprint, including an area known...