News & Analysis as of

Environmental Litigation Citizen Suits

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

What's the Future for Climate Litigation in the US After Juliana?

On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit granted a petition for mandamus from the United States and ordered the District Court to dismiss the complaint in Juliana v. United States. The 9th Circuit had previously ordered the case...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

The D.C. Circuit Vacates Most of EPA’s SSM SIP Call; Generators Breath a Sigh of Relief

Earlier this month, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated most of EPA’s startup, shutdown, and malfunction SIP Call. The Court’s rationale boils down to EPA’s failure to make a predicate finding that the SIP call...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

More Litigation Concerning Plastic Pollution: Can Claims Be Both Novel and Traditional at the Same Time?

Last month, I advised plastics manufacturers to prepare for more litigation.  Although I am generally loath to speculate, it already looks as though this prediction is coming true.  Earlier this month, PennEnvironment and...more

Jenner & Block

Montana State Court Sides with Youth Plaintiffs in Unique Climate Change Lawsuit (Corporate Environmental Lawyer )

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On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court found that a Montana environmental review statute (the Montana Environmental Policy Act or MEPA) that limited (and as amended in May 2023, precluded) consideration of greenhouse gas...more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

Bounty Laws and Citizen Suits

In a jurisprudential pile-up, the Fifth Circuit has become the arena for two simultaneous legal battles that may shape the law of standing and realign federal environmental law. While all eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

It’s More Important for EPA to Ensure that States Are Good Neighbors Than That They are Perfect Neighbors

Last week, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to EPA’s “Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Update Rule”. The Court found that the Rule was “an appropriate exercise of EPA’s statutory authority”....more

Mintz

District Courts Continue to Struggle with the Reach of the Clean Water Act, This Time on Cape Cod

Mintz on

In April of 2020 the Supreme Court of the United States answered a yes or no question with a maybe. The question: does a discharge to groundwater require a permit under the Federal Clean Water Act....more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

The Battle Over PFAS Continues to Heat Up. The Assessment of Costs and Benefits Remains Undone.

Last month, EPA issued interim health advisories for PFOA and PFOS that took many people’s breath away.  It is rather amazing how quickly we’ve moved from parts per billion past parts per trillion to the low parts per...more

Perkins Coie

California River Watch v. Vacaville: “A Better Considered Position” Under RCRA

Perkins Coie on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, on July 1, 2022, took the extraordinary step of reversing its prior decision in California River Watch v. City of Vacaville. The Ninth Circuit ruled that “transportation” under...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

Sometimes the Law Really Is Unambiguous — Clean Water Act Edition

Last week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a person who enters into an administrative settlement with a state is immune from citizen suits seeking civil penalties, but not immune from suits for declaratory or...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

DOJ Gets Off Its Moral High Horse: Ameren Missouri Will Close Early

In January, I noted that Ameren Missouri had surrendered in its defense of the NSR enforcement action brought by DOJ with respect to the Rush Island generating facility.  Ameren Missouri submitted to the Court a proposal to...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

Another Nail In Coal’s Coffin

I’m not sure it’s even really news at this point, but earlier this week Ameren Missouri announced that it would close its Rush Island Energy Center generating plant early, rather than spend the money to install flue gas...more

Mintz

What are Courts supposed to do when the Executive Branch says it is incapable of doing its job?

Mintz on

This week the Massachusetts Attorney General joined the Department of Justice in asking the First Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn what has been the law in the First Circuit for thirty years -- one can't bring a citizen...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

The Law Is An Ass, RCRA Edition

Late last month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a public water supplier could be liable in a citizens’ suit brought under the imminent and substantial endangerment provisions of RCRA, where the plaintiff alleged...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

The Trump WOTUS Rule Is Vacated; What’s Next?

Yesterday, Judge Rosemary Marquez vacated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the misnomer also known as the Trump WOTUS rule. In response to this citizens’ suit challenging NWPR, the Biden EPA and Army Corps of Engineers...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

The Test For Injunctive Relief Was Not Developed By a Risk Assessor

Earlier this Month, Judge James Boasberg, who had previously ruled that the easement allowing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline must be vacated due to a failure to comply with NEPA, nonetheless declined to issue an...more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

Environmental Law Clinics Not Only Persevere But Flourish in 2020

As 2020 came to a close, more than forty Directors of environmental law clinics, from law schools across the country, came together to reflect and share with each other. The environmental law clinic directors meeting has...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

The Trump Administration Suffers Yet One More Judicial Defeat; The “Secret Science” Rule Is Vacated

Last month, I noted that the Trump administration had suffered “one final judicial defeat” – the rejection of its Affordable Clean Energy Rule. Of course, I spoke to soon. Last week, Judge Brian Morris rejected EPA’s rule...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Does the Supreme Court’s ruling in Spokeo v. Robins Change the Standing Requirements for Pursuing Environmental Citizen Suit...

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Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. Supreme Court: mere violation of a statute creating a private right of action is not itself sufficient to satisfy the standing requirement under Article III’s “case or controversy.” To establish...more

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