This is Part II of VII of a brief recap of some the significant environmental law and administrative cases decided in the past few months: E. Fourth Circuit 1. Court of Appeals On July 1, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a decision in the case of…
This is Part I of VII of a brief recap of some the significant environmental law and administrative cases decided in the past few months: I. FEDERAL COURTS A. Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court, on June 29, 2015, in a 5 to 4 ruling, held in Michigan v. EPA, that…
In Gunpowder Riverkeeper v. FERC (where Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC was an Intervenor), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied Gunpowder Riverkeeper’s petition seeking a review of FERC’s issuance of a conditional certificate for public convenience and necessity granted by FERC to Columbia Gas Transmission to…
In National Association for Surface Finishing v. EPA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld EPA’s 2012 revision of its Clean Air Act (CAA) emissions standards for hexavalent chromium. The new rule imposes more stringent emissions limitations than the former rule required, and mandates the…
On July 20, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit again turned aside a challenge to the State of Texas’ “flexible permit” program, which is reserved for Clean Air Act permitting of minor sources of air pollution. The program has been in effect since 1994, but a…
In the case of Energy Future Coalition, et al. v. EPA, decided July 14, 2015, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appelas rejected a challenge to 2014 EPA rules regulating emission testing requirements for new motor vehicles– 40 C.F.R. § 1065.701(a). The rule requires that a “test fuel” be used by…
In a ruling issued July 13, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the decision of the lower court dismissing the claim of the Energy and Environment Legal Institute (EELI) that Colorado’s renewable energy mandate, as approved by Colorado voters, violates the “dormant commerce clause” of…
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the Chesapeake Bay “total maximum daily load” (TMDL), developed over many years to address pollution in Chesapeake Bay, was consistent with the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the U.S. Constitution’s division of powers between the states…
In the case of Michigan, et al., v. EPA, decided June 29, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 ruling, held that EPA, when deciding whether it was appropriate and necessary to regulate Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP), such as mercury and other toxic pollutants emitted from electric…
On June 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision to grant Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, a new trial after it was discovered that the jurors had been exposed to extrinsic evidence bearing on the general prosecution of BP employees…