Litigation

Latest news on lawsuits brought by environmentalists, industry and others challenging EPA rules on a broad range of issues, as well as breaking stories on state, federal and Supreme Court hearings and decisions.

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Latest news on lawsuits brought by environmentalists, industry and others challenging EPA rules on a broad range of issues, as well as breaking stories on state, federal and Supreme Court hearings and decisions.

GOP State Coalition Sues EPA Over ‘Unlawful’ RMP Update Rulemaking

A coalition of Republican officials from 14 states has formally challenged EPA’s controversial update to the risk management program (RMP), signaling that they will argue the new rule’s mandate for facilities to assess and adopt “safer” technologies carries no clear benefits that would justify its compliance costs. The states, led by Oklahoma Attorney General (AG) Gentner Drummond, filed a petition for review late on May 9 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. While the...

6PPD Plaintiffs Invoke New District Court Ruling To Bolster ESA ‘Take’ Claims

Fishery groups suing to block manufacture of vehicle tires with the anti-cracking chemical 6PPD over its role in fish kills are touting a new federal district court decision to boost their claim that use of the substance can qualify as a “take” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which industry defendants say stretches the law far beyond its intent. Plaintiffs in Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), et al. v. Bridgestone, et al. filed a May 8 notice with the...

Despite ‘Gaps,’ Lawyers Say OECA Policy Could Boost Criminal Cases

EPA’s new policy to better coordinate criminal and civil enforcement will likely increase criminal prosecutions for environmental violations, industry attorneys say, though some note that regulators must still win approval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring a criminal case while others see “gaps” in the policy that may further limit actions. The policy “is about driving up the number of criminal investigations. I don’t see any meaningful change in the number of civil cases through this policy. ...

GOP States Sue EPA To Block Tougher Power Plant Mercury Air Rule

A coalition of 23 mainly GOP-led states is suing EPA to block its just-revised mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) rule that tightens emissions limits for coal and oil-fired power plants, as litigation ramps up against the agency’s broader power sector regulations, and GOP lawmakers pledge legislation to stop MATS and other rules. In their suit filed May 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, states led by North Dakota and West Virginia asked...

Judge Grants EPA Motion To Dismiss New Youth Climate Change Case

A federal district judge has quickly accepted EPA’s motion to dismiss a new climate change case brought by 18 California youth asserting the agency has unlawfully permitted projects with dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions, citing a recent appeals court ruling in a related youth climate case as justification. Judge Michael Fitzgerald of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a May 8 order in Genesis B. v. EPA , holding that the youth lack standing...

Environmentalists Back DOI Bid To Dismiss First-Time NEPA Deadline Suit

Environmentalists are backing the Department of the Interior (DOI) in its argument that a Montana coal mine lacks standing to bring its first-time lawsuit seeking to enforce new National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review deadlines, intervening in support of DOI’s motion to dismiss the case. “The fatal flaw in Signal Peak’s suit is that it prematurely seeks to enforce a deadline months before it passes,” environmentalists say in their May 6 motion to dismiss the case, Signal Peak Energy LLC...

Republican States, Co-Ops File Suit Over EPA’s Power Plant GHG Rule

More than two dozen Republican-led states and electric cooperatives are suing EPA over its power plant greenhouse gas standards, pledging to quickly pursue a stay of the rule and arguing the measure effectively ignores the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision vacating Obama-era GHG limits for the sector. “The EPA continues to not fully understand the direction from the Supreme Court -- unelected bureaucrats continue their pursuit to legislate rather than rely on elected members of Congress for guidance,” West Virginia Attorney...

6th Circuit Leans To Kentucky In Suit On EPA’s ‘Good Neighbor’ SIP Denial

Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit seem to be leaning toward Kentucky’s argument that EPA unlawfully disapproved its interstate ozone plan, in the first of many cases to reach merits argument addressing the agency’s mass disapproval of state plans, even as the Supreme Court weighs key venue and merits questions on the rule. At oral argument May 8, a three-judge panel seemed inclined to agree with Kentucky that it has jurisdiction to hear the case,...

EPA Urges Court To Deny Plaintiff’s Bid For Nationwide WOTUS Injunction

EPA is urging a federal district court to reject a North Carolina landowner’s effort to enjoin EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing and enforcing their final amended “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule nationwide, charging that the plaintiff does not meet the standard for an injunction, and that such an effort is an “impermissible collateral attack” on an ongoing enforcement case. EPA filed a May 7 motion opposing a motion for a preliminary injunction in the...

EPA Critics Signal Imminent Push To Block RMP Rule From Taking Effect

EPA’s industry and Republican critics are warning of a wave of imminent litigation challenging the agency’s recently finalized risk management program (RMP) rule updates and seeking to block it from taking effect later this week, charging it exceeds the agency’s authority and places unnecessary burdens on covered facilities. “Unfortunately, EPA consistently promotes policies and issues rules that are bad for businesses, harmful to consumers, and outright hostile to America’s oil and gas industry. The rule under review today is no...

Judicial Panel Selects 5th Circuit To Hear Suits Over TSCA Asbestos Rule

The federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is sending litigation over the Biden administration’s landmark TSCA rule phasing out uses of chrysotile asbestos to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit -- the same court that overturned the agency’s first attempt to ban asbestos more than 30 years ago when it drastically narrowed EPA’s authority to regulate existing chemicals. “The Panel has randomly selected the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in which to consolidate...

Industry Challenge To EPA Taconite Air Rule Escalates Steel Sector Fight

Lawsuits by steel makers Cleveland Cliffs LLC and U.S. Steel Corp. against EPA’s toughened air rule limiting emissions from taconite iron ore processing escalate a brewing fight between the industry and its political backers, and the Biden EPA, with further suits likely over iron and steel production and related coke ovens regulations. Both companies filed suits May 3 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, seeking review of the taconite rule that EPA published in the Federal...

High court schedules San Francisco CSO suit for conference

The Supreme Court is planning to consider next week whether to hear a case brought by the City and County of San Francisco challenging an appellate ruling finding that EPA has authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to set general narrative permit prohibitions on violating applicable water quality standards (WQS). The court on April 30 posted an item to the docket in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, et al. , indicating that the justices are planning...

Groups Rebut CARB Jurisdictional Claims In GHG Disclosure Law Case

Industry groups are rebutting California air board claims that a federal district court should dismiss their constitutional lawsuit to block the state’s landmark 2023 laws requiring large corporations to publicly disclose climate change information, with the groups asserting the court has jurisdiction to decide several of their claims. “The State does not contest in its motion to dismiss that the laws’ compulsion of speech violates the First Amendment, that Plaintiffs have Article III standing to seek redress of those violations...

Opposing States’ Stay Bid, DOJ Defends EPA Methane Rule’s Flexibilities

The Justice Department (DOJ) is urging a federal court to deny Republican states’ push for a stay of EPA’s oil and gas methane rules, arguing the states’ federalism claims are flawed because the rule gives states significant latitude to set requirements for existing facilities and its two-year deadline to write implementation plans is reasonable. DOJ also claims states have failed to show imminent harm from the regulations -- a key element for securing a stay -- and that imposing a...

Alabama Seeks Order Forcing EPA Action On CCR Permit Program Petition

The state of Alabama is urging a federal district court to issue an order compelling EPA to decide on the state’s application to operate its own coal combustion residuals (CCR) permitting program, a petition the agency has already proposed to deny and has pledged to release in final form next week. Alabama filed a May 6 motion for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the suit Marshall, et al., v. EPA, et al....

Steel sector, environmentalists file dueling suits over taconite rule

U.S. Steel Corp. and environmental and tribal groups have filed dueling lawsuits in separate courts over EPA’s recently tightened rule limiting mercury and other air toxics from taconite iron ore production, creating a conflict over the legal venue that will have to be decided by the courts. The steel company filed a May 3 suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. All taconite facilities affected are located in Minnesota and Michigan, within the 8th Circuit’s jurisdiction...

EPA Poised To Publish Tighter MATS Rule, Starting Likely Litigation Wave

EPA is poised to formally publish its tightened mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) for coal and oil-fired power plants, the first of its four recently announced power sector rules that will appear in the Federal Register , starting the clock on what is likely to be wide-ranging wave of litigation that will almost certainly go all the way to the Supreme Court. The agency is scheduled to publish the MATS rule in the Federal Register May 7, starting...

States Face Legal Fights As They Seek To Force EPA Action On CCR Petitions

Wyoming and Alabama officials are facing legal battles as they seek to force EPA to take final action on their requests for delegated authority to permit coal combustion residual (CCR) facilities, highlighting EPA and environmentalists’ concerns that the states may not adequately enforce existing federal CCR requirements. Both states have filed deadline suits seeking to compel the agency to act on their petitions, though each is facing hurdles as the agency delays final action. For example, EPA recently told a...

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