This is a brief review of recent significant environmental and administrative law rulings and developments. With the change in presidential administrations, the fate of at least some of the newly promulgated rules is uncertain. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT BP PLC v. City and County of Baltimore On January 19, 2021,…
Here are some significant environmental and regulatory rulings and administrative actions from December 2020. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT Texas v. New Mexico On December 14, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a water rights controversy involving sharing the water of the Pecos River. The 1949 Pecos River Compact provides for…
This is a brief review of the recently released “Climate 21 Project” policy memo. It is the work of many former members of the Obama Administration who are deeply concerned about climate change and what steps the new administration can take in the first 100 days to confront a problem.…
This roundup of recent environmental and regulatory law rulings and rulemakings includes an EPA deadline extended, a NEPA exclusion and PSM application upheld, and an unsuccessful appeal to the federal officer removal doctrine. THE FEDERAL COURTS State of Rhode Island v. Shell Oil Products, et al. On October 29, 2020,…
Some very interesting and fairly complex environmental law rulings have been released in the past few days. U.S. Supreme Court—Trump, et al. v. Sierra Club, et al. On July 31, 2020, in a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court denied a motion to lift the stay entered by the Court a…
Our latest look at the judiciary is focused mainly on the federal appeals system, with a side of regulatory development thrown in for good measure. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit—Baptiste et al. v. Bethlehem Landfill Company In this case, decided on July 13, 2020, the plaintiffs,…
Last week (June 1-7, 2020), the federal appellate courts released several important rulings. Town of Weymouth, et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals decided the case involving the Atlantic Bridge LNG pipeline project which received FERC ‘s approval in July…
The Fifth Circuit released three new decisions last Friday. On May 29, 2020. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit released three opinions in environmental cases: Stratta, et al. v. Roe, Director of the Brazos Valley Groundwater District; Environmental Integrity Project, et al. v. EPA; and American Stewards…
Here are a few interesting new rulings from the federal appellate courts. COURT ORDERS Like a Good Neighbor …? — State of Maryland v. EPA On May 19, 2020, the D.C. Circuit decided a Clean Air Act case involving the use of the “Good Neighbor Provision” of the Act, which…
This is a brief account of some of the significant environment law developments that have occurred since the President’s March 13 national emergency declaration that the spread of COVID-19 poses a threat to national security. The Courts – SCOTUS The U.S. Supreme Court has issued three important decisions affecting environmental…