On August 11, 2021, Louisiana’s Attorney General filed a complaint against the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS) to prevent implementation of recent regulations amending 50 C.F.R. § 223 related to sea turtle conservation. Louisiana State v. Department of Commerce et al, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 2:21-cv-01523. The new rule requires…
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In PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC v. New Jersey, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) defended the federal government’s ability to delegate its eminent domain power to a natural gas company. No. 19-1039, 2021 WL 2653262, (U.S. June 29, 2021). The Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) was passed by Congress in 1938 to regulate the…
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The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut has granted the state’s remand motion in its case against Exxon Mobil for allegedly misleading the public about connections between its products and climate change, as well as alleged interference with the marketplace for renewable energy and “greenwashing.” Connecticut v. Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 3:20-cv-1555…
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On April 28, 2021, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed consent decree with the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York in the lawsuit entitled United States and State of New York v. Holcim (US) Inc., CV No. 1:21-cv-490. The United States and the State of New York filed the…
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In an April 1, 2021 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Florida’s claims against Georgia in a long-running dispute over the use of water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basin. State of Florida v. State of Georgia, 141 S.Ct. 1175 (2021). The court rejected Florida’s request for an order requiring Georgia to reduce its…
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This Clean Water Act (CWA) case arose from the 2007 disposal of fill from Defendants’ property (containing purported wetlands) allegedly into “waters of the United States.” United States v. Acquest Transit LLC, No. 09-CV-55S, 2021 WL 809984, at *13 (W.D.N.Y. Mar. 3, 2021). The underlying issue is whether that property contained wetlands that are part of “waters of…
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Plaintiffs in Melton Properties, et al. v. Illinois Central Railroad, 2020 WL 7335018 (N.D. Miss.) recently argued the Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020), overrules the 5th Circuit’s precedent in Hamker v. Diamond, 756 F.2d 392 (5th Cir. 1995). Plaintiffs are property owners or farmers near the site…
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear litigation concerning which section of the law, and their different statutes of limitations, parties must use when seeking to recoup Superfund cleanup costs. The case, Guam v. United States, Case No. 20-382, is slated to be heard in the Court’s upcoming term. In 2017, Guam sued the…
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Draft Guidance Memorandum following the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. 139 S.Ct. 1164 (2019). This Guidance Memo attempts to give regulators and source owners additional clarity as to when the functional equivalent test should be applied. County of…
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit will soon have the opportunity to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund ruling to a long-running dispute between an environmental group and the owner of a coal-fired power plant. 140 S.Ct. 1462 (2020). The case is Prairie Rivers Network v. Dynegy…
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