Just when Federal agencies and Administrative Law Professors thought it couldn't get any worse, the current majority of our nation's highest court on Monday released a third opinion in less than a week further diminishing the...more
I was sad to see the Law 360 report that a coalition of environmental and human rights NGOs have petitioned President Biden to pardon former attorney Steven Donzinger who was jailed for criminal contempt of court in 2021,...more
As predicted in February, our nation's highest court is about to hear its third Clean Water Act in four years. Anyone who doubts the outcome of this case hasn't read the other two Supreme Court opinions and that brings to...more
5/29/2024
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
NPDES ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Storm Water ,
Wastewater ,
Water Quality ,
Waters of the United States
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has finally ended the Nantucket Residents Against Turbines' lawsuit against the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the...more
On March 5th, three Judges of the First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear from lawyers for residents of Nantucket who sued to stop the Vineyard Wind project, the first utility-scale offshore wind energy project in in the...more
Just before the holidays I wrote about three Judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals who decided, over the Army Corps of Engineers' objection, to apply the Supreme Court's Sackett test for determining whether something...more
A Federal Judge in Oklahoma has ordered the ejectment of 84 wind turbines on 8400 acres of Osage County Oklahoma. The problem for the developers of the wind farm is that they leased the surface of those 8400 acres from the...more
Over two years ago I wrote about a lawsuit filed by a Connecticut-based solar farm developer with a summer home in Martha's Vineyard seeking to enjoin the Vineyard Wind project off the Massachusetts coast. This particular...more
The Nantucket Residents Against Turbines, or ACKRat, have asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to find that the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service acted "arbitrarily and...more
This week Judge Gergel tentatively approved the $1.2 billion settlement between DuPont (and related companies) and water suppliers now dealing with the fact that EPA and many States have concluded that the most minute...more
8/24/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Clean-Up Costs ,
Drinking Water ,
DuPont ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
PFAS ,
Public Health ,
Settlement ,
Water Supplies
ACK Rat's attempt to kill the Vineyard Wind project came closer to an unsuccessful end this week when Federal Judge Talwani granted a motion for summary judgment against ACK Rat and its founder that will end the case unless...more
Three Judges of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals have joined Judges in North Dakota and Texas in concluding that EPA's most recent attempt to establish the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act is unlikely to survive...more
Law360 shares the good news that three Judges in the First Circuit Court of Appeals have affirmed the Federal District Court's dismissal of claims by neighbors of Back Beach in Rockport. The NIMBYs sued the Town of Rockport...more
Sir Winston Churchill famously said "those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Of course he didn't have the nearly four decade long controversy over the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act in mind but...more
This week three Judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that a District Court Judge exceeded his authority in vacating an EPA regulation without first determining that the regulation was unlawful.
The Trump...more
Inside EPA reports that some House Democrats are criticizing their Republican colleagues for attempting to repeal EPA's eighth attempt to determine the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act by regulation. Like recent rules by...more
Three Judges of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals have dismissed the American Chemistry Council's complaint challenging EPA's interim health advisory levels for PFAS in drinking water. The ACC's case was dismissed, not for...more
Everyone expected that EPA's eighth attempt to define the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act would end up in court. I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that two groups of plaintiffs filed their lengthy complaints...more
Inside EPA is reporting this morning that a three judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has joined the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in upholding the constitutionality of the Congressional Review Act. The Act...more
Yesterday a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard from lawyers for the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Environmental Protection Agency...more
A Maine Trial Court Judge has denied New England Clean Energy Connect permission to complete its project to transmit Canadian hydropower to the United States saying that NECEC hadn't demonstrated that it will suffer...more
Until today someone appealing a decision by a local conservation commission under both the Massachusetts wetlands protection act and a local wetland protection bylaw had to appeal the decision under the Massachusetts law to...more
Regardless of your perspective on the respective roles of Congress, the President and the Courts in creating federal environmental law, an essay by Sam Sankar of EarthJustice is well worth your time. ...more
This week many eyes are focused on Maine's Supreme Judicial Court which will hear argument on whether Maine voters can effectively cancel Federal and State approvals of the New England Clean Energy Connect project. This...more
I'm shocked by the news this morning that a respected Massachusetts Congressman and several others are petitioning President Biden to pardon Steve Donziger who was found by a United States District Court and a United States...more