Idaho Conservation League v. Poe
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for an environmental group in a suit against a California resident who engaged in instream suction dredge mining in Idaho’s South Fork Clearwater River without an NPDES permit. The group argued the resident violated the CWA each time he operated a suctio...
Unpacking the Revised WOTUS Rule
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a direct final rule that revised the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition rule. This rule amended the final WOTUS rule, previously published in January 2023, to be consistent with the Supreme Court’s May decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. On September 14, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts to analyze the new rule and discuss its regulatory and policy consequences.
National Ass'n of Wheat Growers v. Bonta
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment for agricultural producers and businesses and a permanent injunction enjoining the California attorney general (AG) from enforcing Proposition 65's carcinogen warning requirement for the herbicide glyphosate. Plaintiffs ar...
Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Ass'n v. Regan
The Eighth Circuit granted farming groups' petitions to review EPA's 2021 order banning agricultural use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. The groups argued EPA's "rushed" decision to revoke all tolerances for chlorpyrifos, in response to a Ninth Circuit order directing the Agency to either revoke al...
Munoz v. Intercontinental Terminals Co., L.L.C.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the operator of a chemical storage facility in a lawsuit concerning the operator's 2019 oil spill into the Houston Ship Channel. Shipping companies that were forced to stop operations after the spill sued the operator, seeking economic loss damages und...