Minnesota Power’s Petition for Approval of the EnergyForward Resource Package
A state appellate court upheld the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission's (MPUC's) approval of affiliated-interest agreements for construction and operation of a natural gas-fired power plant in Wisconsin. Environmental groups argued substantial evidence did not support MPUC's determinations that t...
Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A district court denied a water district's motion to intervene in an ESA lawsuit seeking protections for longfin smelt. The water district argued it had standing to intervene because its alleged injury—a reduction in water allocation—was economic, its injury was traceable to plaintiff's claims s...
Environmental Health Trust v. Federal Communications Commission
The D.C. Circuit granted in part petitions to review the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) order regarding the adequacy of the Commission's guidelines for exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation. Environmental groups argued the FCC violated the APA by failing to acknowledge evidence of n...
Southern California Alliance of Publicly Owned Treatment Works v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning guidance issued by EPA recommending a statistical method for assessing water toxicity. Trade groups argued the Agency violated the APA and the CWA in issuing the guidance. A district court found that the guidance was not final agency actio...
The Parish of Plaquemines v. Chevron USA, Inc.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part district court rulings in a collection of lawsuits concerning oil companies' decades of drilling activities along the Louisiana coast. Six Louisiana parishes filed suit in state court, arguing the companies violated the Louisiana State and Loca...
Public Citizen, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part a challenge to FERC's orders addressing complaints over the results of a 2015 auction for electrical capacity in Illinois. A public interest group had complained the auction had resulted in electricity rates that were unjust and unreasonable, that ...