A district court dismissed a motion to dismiss environmental groups' citizen suit against five coal companies alleging thousands of violations of the CWA and SMCRA in West Virginia. Because EPA entered into a consent decree with the companies, the defendants argued that the groups' CWA claim...

The Fifth Circuit held that a pollution exclusion clause contained in an oil well operator's insurance policy bars coverage for cleanup costs of an oil leak on leased land. The operator argued that the exclusion did not apply because the operator leased only mineral rights and that the surfa...

The Fifth Circuit held that a "farmout agreement," under which the owner of a federal offshore oil and gas lease transferred its rights to drill to another drilling operator, does not require the operator to bear a proportionate share of the costs of decommissioning an oil platform at the le...

The D.C. Circuit denied medical waste trade associations' petition for review challenging EPA's performance standards for new and existing hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators (HMIWI). The associations argued that the data set EPA used to establish the standards was flawed. But EPA's ...

The Seventh Circuit denied environmental groups' petitions challenging EPA's approval of revisions to Wisconsin's new source review program. In 2002, EPA changed the rules that determine when polluters need permits in order to modify existing facilities—and, if they need permits, what restrictions...

The D.C. Circuit set aside an order of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission denying a mining company's application for temporary relief from restrictions that the Mine Safety and Health Administration imposed on it in conjunction with its investigation of an explosion at one of its m...

The Ninth Circuit held that the CAA does not preempt a local air district's adoption and enforcement of rules regulating air emissions from diesel-powered engines. CAA §209(e) expressly prohibits states from setting "standards or other requirements relating to the control of emissions" from no...

The Tenth Circuit upheld the dismissal of an environmental group's CAA citizen suit against a power company alleging that it was attempting to build a coal-fired power plant with an invalid PSD permit. The permit provided that if construction did not commence by May 29, 2005, or if construction...

A district court dismissed a mining industry association's action challenging DOI Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) regulations allocating the burden of proof in five types of administrative proceedings under SMCRA. The association argued that the regulations impermissibly shift the ultimate...

A district court held that mining interests may go forward with their CWA, APA, and SMCRA claims against EPA in connection with memoranda and guidance documents concerning permitting processes for coal mining. The documents meet the criteria of final agency actions. The government's view of ...