The Fourth Circuit reversed a district court order abstaining from ruling on constitutional claims brought by mineral interest owners challenging amendments to West Virginia's oil and gas conservation law. Plaintiffs argued the amendments, which for the first time authorized "unitization of interest...

The Eighth Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to Iowa's "ag gag" law that criminalizes undercover investigations at agricultural production facilities. Initially, the law prohibited the facilities from being accessed under false pretenses as well as prohibited false statements o...

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a splintered 5-4 decision, affirmed dismissal of a constitutional challenge to a California law that forbids in-state sale of pork meat from breeding pigs that are "confined in a cruel manner." Out-of-state pork producers challenged the law on dormant Commerce Clause groun...

The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court ruling that denied the Sabine River Authority (SRA)-Louisiana's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its release of water from a reservoir on the Sabine River between Texas and Louisiana. Property owners in both states argued that SRA-Louisiana and...

A district court granted a plastics company's request to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its production of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environmental groups argued the company violated TSCA and its implementing regulations by producing PFAS without appropriate EPA approvals. The company ...

A district court granted EPA's motion to dismiss nonprofit groups' challenge to the Agency's response to their TSCA petition requesting comprehensive health and environmental effects testing on 54 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) manufactured by a company in North Carolina. EPA granted the...