A Minnesota appellate court upheld a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency rule governing phosphorus effluent discharges into state waters. A coalition of cities argued that because the rule provides that a discharger "may" rather than "shall" qualify for an exemption if it demonstrates that it can mee...

A district court held that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection may intervene in environmental groups' lawsuit challenging the DOI Secretary's approval of two amendments to the state's surface mining regulatory program. Although the goal of the state agency appears to be identica...

A Minnesota appellate court upheld a state permit regulating ballast-water discharges into Minnesota waters of Lake Superior. An environmental group argued that the agency erred in its interpretation and application of the state's nondegradation rule, failed to conduct an appropriate nondegradation ...

A district court enjoined a timber harvest project in Lassen National Forest until the Forest Service conducts an adequate and sufficient review under NEPA. Environmental groups brought a lawsuit challenging the Forest Service's EA for the project. The group argued that the Service failed to ensure ...

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court order holding that a company substantially complied with a state's remediation plan for cleaning up PCB contamination at a hazardous waste site. The company's predecessor-in-interest operated an electrical transformer repair facility on the subject property,...

The Alaska Supreme Court held that a proposed clean water initiative relating to the regulation of large-scale metallic mineral mines was constitutionally and statutorily permissible and was qualified to appear on a statewide 2008 election ballot. The initiative would not make a constitutionally imp...

A California appellate court remanded in part a lower court decision denying a paint manufacturing association's petition challenging amendments to an air district rule limiting the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) allowed in various kinds of paints and coatings. The association argued th...

The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision in favor of the U.S. government on claims that it breached certain contracts between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and California water districts concerning Central Valley Project water resources. The lower court concl...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court’s dismissal of an action on the grounds that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) improperly granted an exemption from the California Forest Practice Act (FPA) to a property owner to convert his timberland to an orchard...

A district court granted the United States’ motion for summary judgment to find that certain timber harvesting provisions of a forest management plan did not violate the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the Tongass Timber Reform Act (TTRA). Plaintiffs—several Alaskan ...