Natural Resources Defense Council v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review a 2016 rule that EPA uses to determine whether an event caused by recurring activity is "exceptional" and thus exempt from a state's emissions report. The groups argued that EPA misread the definition of "natural event" under the excep...
Hill
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a car owner's motion to intervene in DOJ's case against a German automaker to resolve alleged CAA violations. The owner argued that DOJ's settlement with the automaker violated Virginia's SIP by not requiring all affected vehicles to be bought ...
Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control v. EPA
The D.C. Circuit denied Delaware's petition to review EPA's decision granting the Philadelphia area an extra year to comply with national ground-level ozone standards. Delaware argued that the Agency's extension violated the CAA because not all four states in the Philadelphia area applied for an ext...
Sierra Club v. EPA
The D.C. Circuit denied petitions from industry groups challenging EPA's new kiln air emissions standards for brick and clay manufacturers, and largely granted petitions from environmental groups who argued the standards were not strict enough to protect human health. Industry groups argued that the...
New York v. Pruitt
A district court ordered EPA to issue federal implementation plans fully resolving interstate transport obligations under the CAA's "good neighbor" provision for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. EPA conceded that it missed the deadline to do so under the Act. The Agency also acknowledged that it was feasible t...
Wyoming v. United States Bureau of Land Management
The Tenth Circuit refused to stay pending interlocutory appeal a lower court order staying BLM's waste prevention rule, which was issued to reduce the venting, flaring, and leaking of natural gas emissions during oil and gas production activities on onshore federal land. California, New Mexico, and ...
National Environmental Development Ass'n's Clean Air Project v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit upheld amendments EPA made to its CAA regional consistency regulations that allow regional offices to act counter to national policies when ordered to do so by federal circuit courts. EPA issued the amended regulations in 2016 in response to the D.C. Circuit's decision in National E...