The D.C. Circuit dismissed petitions challenging EPA's primary NAAQS for sulfur dioxide (SO2). The petitioners—several states, state regulatory agencies, corporations, and industrial associations—argued that EPA failed to follow the APA's notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures because it did n...
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that under state law, a town may not impose conditions on a livestock siting permit to protect surface and groundwater. The state legislature has strictly limited the ability of political subdivisions to regulate the livestock facility siting process. The town ove...
A California appellate court upheld a local air district rule that requires manufacturers of consumer paint thinner and solvent products to limit the use of ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their products. The district issued to rule to satisfy its federal CAA commitments. A pa...
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a petition to vacate the state wildlife board's decision to pay $9.98 million from the California Habitat Conservation Fund to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project. The pe...
The California Supreme Court upheld an air district's technology-forcing rules that limit certain pollution-causing substances in paints and coatings. A paint association argued that the air district failed to show that technology necessary to meet the emissions limits set by the 2002 amendments...
The D.C. Circuit upheld four EPA rulemakings governing greenhouse gases. EPA issued the rules following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), in which the Court clarified that greenhouse gases meet the definition of an air pollutant under the CAA. Petit...
The Montana Supreme Court upheld the state oil and gas board's issuance of 23 gas well permits to an oil company in the area known as the Cedar Creek Anticline, a major geologic feature that extends for nearly 120 miles and is home to various animal species, most notably the sage grouse. Environment...