Litigation - Climate Extra

D.C. Circuit pauses CAA 111(d) implementing rule case

The D.C. Circuit is granting the Trump administration’s unopposed call to pause litigation case concerning EPA’s Clean Air Act section 111(d) implementing regulations for state compliance plans for climate standards, though it is pausing the case for a shorter period than officials requested. The Justice Department (DOJ) sought a pause in early February for the litigation challenging the Biden EPA’s rule governing how states must comply with federal climate and air standards issued under section 111(d), arguing that new EPA...

DOJ, States Reject Industry Standing Claims In High Court Waiver Case

A California-led state coalition and the Justice Department (DOJ) are urging the Supreme Court to find that oil and biofuel groups lack standing to pursue litigation over the Biden EPA’s preemption waiver for the state’s vehicle standards, and to reject industry’s proposed test to automatically grant standing in certain circumstances. The arguments in Diamond Alternative Energy, et al. v EPA, et al . come after the Supreme Court last month rejected the Trump administration’s push to pause the case while...

Judge Raises Concern Over EPA’s Termination Of $20 Billion GHGRF Grants

A major grant recipient of EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) is urging a federal court to require the agency to disburse funding under its award, and the judge hearing the case appears sympathetic to its request, even as EPA lawyers are arguing the litigation is moot after officials terminated $20 billion in awards for multiple groups. “There are still rules that even the government has to follow, last I checked, and the government can’t just . . . terminate...

Additional ‘Green Bank’ Recipients Sue Citibank To Force Funds’ Release

Additional major recipients of EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) are filing suit against Citibank for freezing its accounts amid Trump EPA attacks on the program, with the groups arguing the bank is unlawfully blocking its access to the funds as well as accounts held by over a dozen “subgrantees.” The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) “brings this suit to vindicate its right -- and its subgrantees’ rights -- to direct the disposition of funds and financial assets in their...

Lawsuits Targeting California ZEV Rule Waiver Add To Air Act Venue Fights

Lawsuits challenging the Biden EPA’s preemption waiver for California’s latest zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales requirements are highlighting a third policy area -- beyond interstate ozone controls and renewable fuels requirements -- in which EPA and other parties are grappling with the proper venue for challenges to various Clean Air Act policies. Multiple oil-sector groups, including American Petroleum Institute (API) and a coalition led by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), last week filed 11th-hour legal challenges over the ZEV...

Justices Reject Republican AGs’ Bid To Quash State Climate Lawsuits

The Supreme Court is rejecting a push by Republican attorneys general to block a series of climate change nuisance and fraud cases that are being pursued by Democratic-led states, offering another indication that the justices are willing to let these and similar cases continue to advance in state courts across the country. The court in a 7-2 order in Alabama, et al. v. California, et al . rejects the GOP states’ push for the justices to use their “original jurisdiction”...

Major ‘Green Bank’ Fund Recipient Sues Citibank, EPA For Halting Grant

The largest recipient of EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) that finances low-carbon energy projects is urging a district court to quickly require Citibank to continue disbursing the program’s funds and block EPA from impeding those awards. Climate United Fund’s March 8 complaint , filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, charges that Citibank is unlawfully blocking grantees’ access to GHGRF funds even though the bank agreed to manage the program on behalf of EPA, and...

EAB Requires EPA To Justify Shorter Monitoring Period In CO2 Permits

EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) is requiring officials to better explain why they approved a post-closure monitoring period much shorter than the default in one of the agency’s first carbon storage permits, elevating debate on an issue that environmentalists call a major concern due to long-term risks from carbon dioxide injected underground. “The Board remands the permit decisions to [EPA Region 5] with respect to the [post-injection site care (PISC)] timeframe because the record does not reflect the Region’s independent...

D.C. Circuit Pauses Suits Challenging EPA Car, Truck Emissions Rules

The D.C. Circuit is granting industry requests to pause litigation over EPA’s multi-pollutant standards for model year 2027 and later passenger vehicles and the agency’s “phase 3” greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty trucks, amid expectations that EPA will begin reconsidering and scaling back the measures. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a March 4 order holds in abeyance the multi-pollutant litigation -- Commonwealth of Kentucky, et al. v. EPA -- while directing parties...

Zeldin’s Call To Scrap GHG Risk Finding Would Spur Complex Court Fight

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is reportedly urging the White House to scrap the agency’s long-standing greenhouse gas endangerment finding, the basis for its climate rules, opening the door to a drawn-out, complex court battle while also opening industry up to major common law legal risks. Zeldin’s recommendation, which was first reported by the Washington Post , would most immediately remove the legal basis for EPA’s GHG rules for vehicles, power plants, landfills and other major industrial sectors, though rules...

State Officials Clash Over Climate Risk In Pension Plans As Courts Weigh In

Republican and Democratic state officials are clashing over whether pension fund managers may weigh climate-related risks in their investment decisions and whether federal agencies should bar such practices, continuing a legal debate over the topic that could play out in further litigation over any federal action. In a Jan. 28 letter , Republican financial officers urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Labor Department (DOL) to issue guidance and regulation to govern fiduciaries’ consideration of climate and other ESG...

New York Sues Over Trump DOT Move To End Congestion Pricing Program

New York’s Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTA) is suing the Trump administration over its abrupt end to a federal approval for its just-launched, first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program for a portion of Manhattan, an effort that environmentalists have promoted as vital for curbing congestion and associated air and climate pollution. The program, which charges drivers $9 to enter Manhattan’s Central Business District below 60th Street, is intended to reduce traffic congestion, bolster transit and reduce both greenhouse gas and conventional air emissions...

Minnesota Hails Ruling Allowing Climate Nuisance Case To Proceed

Minnesota officials are applauding a state judge’s ruling allowing most of the state’s climate nuisance claims against oil majors to proceed, with the judge rejecting arguments that federal law preempts the state’s claims and offering a contrast to several recent court decisions dismissing other similar climate nuisance and fraud cases. The Feb. 14 decision in State of Minnesota v. American Petroleum Institute (API), et al. , by Minnesota District Court Judge Reynaldo Aligada Jr. “rejects defendants’ argument that federal common...

D.C. Circuit agrees to pause power plant GHG rule litigation

The D.C. Circuit is agreeing with EPA’s unopposed request to pause consolidated litigation over the Biden administration’s power plant greenhouse gas rules, clearing the way for Trump officials to review -- and then likely scale back or repeal -- the measure. A Feb. 19 order says the litigation, known as West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, et al. , will be “held in abeyance pending further order of the court.” The order directs EPA to file motions to govern further...

Environmentalists File Suit Over Trump Reversal Of Offshore Drilling Bar

Environmental groups are filing suit over President Donald Trump’s move to lift a Biden-era prohibition of oil and gas drilling on wide swaths of the outer continental shelf (OCS), asserting that such leasing withdrawals cannot be lifted by a subsequent administration. “Trump’s executive order is an unlawful giveaway to the fossil fuel industry that puts marine ecosystems, coastal economies, and the climate at risk,” said Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Executive Director Christy Goldfuss in a Feb. 19 statement announcing...

Court Upholds Biden Rule Allowing Pension Managers To Weigh Climate

A federal judge in Texas is again rejecting challenges to a Biden-era rule allowing pension plan managers to weigh climate factors when deciding between two otherwise equal investing options, even as it is likely the Trump administration will reverse the policy. The Feb. 18 ruling in State of Utah, et al. v. Vince Micone, et al. from Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas echoes the outcome of his surprise 2023...

D.C. Circuit Denies EPA Call To Stay HFC Case With Key Constitutional Claim

The D.C. Circuit is denying the Trump EPA’s request to pause litigation over an agency rule to implement a phasedown of climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), after several industry groups argued that the court should offer clarity on a key constitutional challenge to the underlying HFC control law. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the EPA request in a brief Feb. 13 order in IGas Holdings, et al. v. EPA, et al....

After Waiver Failure, CARB In Talks To Settle Truck ZEV Fleet Rule Suit

California Air Resources Board (CARB) lawyers are in talks with California Trucking Association (CTA) attorneys to settle the group’s lawsuit challenging the board’s zero-emission truck fleet regulation, after CARB last month withdrew its request to EPA for a waiver of federal preemption to implement and enforce the rule on private fleets. The parties “have conferred, and jointly state that [CARB’s] Motion to Dismiss and CTA’s Motion for Summary Judgment should be held in abeyance for 30 days, to allow for...

Acting SEC Head Urges Court To Delay Disclosure Rule Case, Eyes Repeal

The acting head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is urging a federal court to effectively pause litigation over the Biden administration’s landmark climate-related disclosure rule -- the first step toward its likely repeal. The commission in a Feb. 11 filing is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit “not to take any action to schedule oral argument” before the SEC submits a status report within 45 days on its next steps. In an attached statement...

California AG Says Trump Freeze Puts Billions For Energy, Climate At Risk

As part of Democratic states’ recent court filing to block President Donald Trump’s freeze of federal funding, the California attorney general is detailing tens of billions of dollars that have been earmarked for the Golden State to spend on clean energy, climate and environmental-improvement projects and programs. “In yet another unlawful move, we have evidence that despite the Temporary Restraining Order [TRO] we secured, the Trump Administration has continued to block funds needed for our domestic energy security, transportation, and...

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