Kentucky Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Midkiff
A district court dismissed environmental groups' suit for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' nationwide permitting program, and, specifically, its use throughout the Appalachian region to issue permits for mining activities. The groups alleged CWA, N...
Chesapeake Bay Foundation v. Severstal Sparrows Point, LLC
A district court held that environmental groups may pursue a RCRA claim against the current and former owners of a steel mill for disposing of hazardous waste without a permit, but dismissed the groups' remaining RCRA and CWA claims. The groups' claims that the mill has released and continues t...
Voices of the Wetlands v. State Water Resources Control Board
California's highest court upheld a regional water board's issuance of a NPDES permit authorizing a power plant to draw cooling water from an adjacent harbor and slough. An environmental group filed suit, claiming that the permit did not satisfy the "best technology available" requirement of CWA...
Anacostia Riverkeeper v. Jackson
A district court held that EPA's approval of a sediments and total suspended solids (TSS) TMDL for the Anacostia River in Maryland and Washington, D.C., was arbitrary and capricious. When developing a TMDL for a particular pollutant, the CWA and its implementing regulations require the state—in de...
Amigos Bravos v. United States Bureau of Land Management
A district court held that environmental groups lack standing to challenge BLM's approval of two quarterly oil and gas lease sales under the APA, NEPA, FLPMA, and the Mineral Leasing Act. The groups claimed that BLM failed to meaningfully address the issue of climate change in approving the leases, ...
Lake Carriers' Ass'n v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit denied trade associations' petition for review of a nationwide permit issued by EPA for the discharge of pollutants incidental to the normal operation of vessels. The associations, which represent commercial ship owners and operators, raised a number of procedural challenges, al...