The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has reinstated the “emergency” affirmative defense under Title V of the Clean Air Act, reversing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) 2023 decision to remove it. For more than three decades, 40 C.F.R. § 70.6(g) allowed permit holders to assert a complete defense against liability when excess…
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On June 20, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. Environmental Protection Agency, 606 U.S. ___, 145 S.Ct. 2121 (2025). The Supreme Court determined that fuel producers have Article III standing to challenge the EPA’s 2022 approval of California’s vehicle emissions standards and electric vehicle mandates under the…
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On June 30, 2025, the United States Supreme Court invited the Solicitor General to submit the federal government’s views on whether it should hear Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, a case involving Bayer’s glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup. The central legal issue concerns whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts state failure-to-warn claims when product…
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The Supreme Court recently issued a decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, 605 U.S. ___ (2025). The Court held that NEPA requires environmental assessments only of the specific project under review, not of side effects caused by separate actions. It also reaffirmed courts must show strong deference to agency decisions on environmental…
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In the case of Alabama v. United States Army Corps of Eng’rs, No. CV 15-696 (LLA), (D.D.C. Mar. 31, 2025), a legal dispute between the State of Alabama and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”), with the State of Georgia and other entities as intervenor-defendants, was resolved in favor of the Corps…
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In a significant Clean Water Act ruling, on March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) authority under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting process. The decision in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, 604 U.S. ___, 145 S. Ct. 704 (2025) strikes down…
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The Supreme Court recently issued a decision in City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, which clarifies the authority of federal and state environmental enforcement agencies to include limitations in pollutant-discharge permits. The Court held the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has authority to specify the actions a permittee must take to ensure…
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On February 3, 2025, the District Court for the District of North Dakota ruled in favor of 20 Republican-led states in their challenge against the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Phase II National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, finalized in 2024. See State of Iowa v. Council on Envtl. Quality, 1:24-cv-089 (D.N.D. Feb. 3, 2025)….
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On December 16, 2024, the EPA released Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 16 (Preliminary Plan 16). The EPA prepares Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plans pursuant to Clean Water Act (CWA) section 304(m). A preliminary plan describes the EPA’s annual review of effluent guidelines and pretreatment standards consistent with CWA sections 301, 304, and 307. In…
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On December 9, 2024 the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) finalized the bans of two chemicals, trichloroethylene (“TCE”) and perchloroethylene (“PCE”), that have been linked to risks of cancer and other severe health conditions. The ban comes as part of the EPA’s regulatory authority under the 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act. TCE and…
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