The Ninth Circuit denied an environmental group's petition challenging EPA's decision to grant two air permits authorizing exploratory drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean by a drillship and its associated fleet of support vessels. The permits require the drillship to comply with best available c...
The D.C. Circuit denied a petition for rehearing of an earlier decision in which it upheld four EPA rulemakings governing greenhouse gases. EPA issued the rules following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 37 ELR 20075 (2007), in which the Court clarified that g...
A California court held that the environmental impact report (EIR) San Diego prepared for its regional transport plan and accompanying sustainable communities strategy violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it failed to adequately address greenhouse gas emissions. The EIR i...
The D.C. Circuit held that EPA's determination that it completed sufficient standards to meet CAA §112(c)(6)'s 90% requirement for hazardous air pollutants is a legislative rulemaking subject to APA notice-and-comment requirements. EPA's determination, having declared the end not only of its multi-...
The D.C. Circuit upheld an EPA rule that added the gold mine ore processing and production area source category to the list of source categories to be regulated under CAA §112(c)(6). CAA §112(c)(6) requires action by EPA on seven bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), including mercury, ...
A district court held that the CAA preempts individuals' tort law action against a coal-fired power plant for property damage stemming from the plant's air emissions. In essence, the individuals' complaint attacks the plant's air emissions and asks the court to regulate them. But the CAA provides a ...
A district court held that utilities violated CAA §112(g) by upgrading an existing power plant in Lamar, Colorado, from a natural gas-fired plant into a coal-fired one without receiving a maximum achievable control technology (MACT) determination. When the state environmental agency first issued th...
A Minnesota appellate court affirmed a lower court decision dismissing an individual's lawsuit against the state for violating the public trust doctrine with respect to climate change. In his complaint, the individual alleged that the state's commitment to a 15% reduction in Minnesota’s greenhouse...
A district court denied a company's motion to dismiss an environmental group's CAA citizen suit against it for building seven compressor stations without first obtaining a nonattainment new source review permit. The company claimed that it properly applied for and received less stringent permits fro...