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.

Topic Subtitle
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.

Clock starts for suits against EPA’s sterilizers air rule

EPA has published its rule limiting emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) from commercial sterilizers in the Federal Register , starting a 60-day clock for litigants to file suit against the regulation that is broadly supported by environmental and community groups, but opposed by chemical sector groups, medical equipment suppliers and others. The rule , released in March and published in the Register April 5, tightens standards for sources such as sterilization chamber vents and aeration room vents, and adds...

Louisiana’s ‘Public Trust’ Doctrine Tests State’s EJ Mandates In Permitting

Louisiana’s public trust doctrine, a constitutional provision that generally requires regulators to protect the environment, is facing a court test as the state and environmentalists make competing arguments over whether it requires assessing the environmental justice (EJ) impacts of air permits. Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) filed a March 18 petition asking the state Supreme Court in Rise St. James, et al. v. LDEQ to overturn a lower court decision finding it is obligated under the state’s public...

Manchin raises concerns over settlement requiring first-time ionic TMDL

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is raising concerns over a settlement between EPA and environmentalists that would compel the agency to develop first-time total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for ionic toxicity pollution in West Virginia streams, pointing to the state’s exclusion from the negotiations as well as its regulatory process for developing such limits. Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he is “deeply concerned about this seemingly unprecedented executive action, especially since West Virginia was not...

Court Finds Internet Law Shields Vehicle Device Firm From Air Law Liability

In a blow to EPA’s high-priority enforcement actions over vehicle emissions’ “defeat devices,” a federal court has issued a precedential ruling finding that a device manufacturer has immunity from Clean Air Act claims due to protections in the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the law that immunizes social media companies and other providers and users of interactive computer services due to third-party content. In a March 28 ruling in United States v. EZ Lynk, et al., Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil...

Suit Argues DOE Violated NEPA In Awarding Diablo Canyon Over $1 Billion

Environmentalists in a new lawsuit are charging the Department of Energy (DOE) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and administrative procedures in awarding over $1 billion to help extend the life of California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, and they are pressing a district court to nullify the award. “DOE should have known better than to shirk NEPA review before handing out a billion taxpayer dollars to a dangerously outdated nuclear power plant,” said Hallie Templeton, legal director of...

CARB Sees Ripeness, Standing Faults In Suit Over Climate Disclosure Laws

California air board attorneys are arguing that a federal district court should dismiss industry’s constitutional lawsuit to block California’s landmark 2023 laws requiring large corporations to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change risks, contending the claims are unripe and the plaintiffs lack standing to sue. Plaintiffs’ “claims arising under the Supremacy Clause and the limits on extraterritorial regulation are not justiciable, as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) -- the agency tasked with enforcement of the laws...

EPA Defends ‘Adjacent’ Wetlands Definition As Critics Attack WOTUS Rule

EPA is defending its controversial rule amending the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to conform with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision from state and industry challenges, arguing in part that its challenged omission of “indistinguishability” as a jurisdictional requirement for “adjacent” wetlands misreads the high court’s decision. “ Sackett does not require the party asserting [Clean Water Act (CWA)] jurisdiction to prove that wetlands and covered waters are visually identical; indeed, as Sackett itself...

Former EPA chief Wheeler joins Washington, DC law firm

Former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has signed on as partner and head of federal affairs in the Washington, DC office of the law firm Holland & Hart after ending his stint in the administration of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). In an April 2 statement announcing his hiring, Wheeler pledged to “build a team of bipartisan federal advocacy and policy professionals” while also “working closely with firm attorneys and other government affairs professionals to advance the interests of the firm’s...

EPA Seeks To Scrap Suit Requiring ‘Noise’ Rules, Citing End To Funding

EPA is asking a federal court to hold that Congress effectively scrapped the 1972 Noise Control Act’s (NCA) requirement for rules limiting noise pollution when it zeroed out funding for NCA implementation during the Reagan era despite leaving the law itself in place, as it fights environmentalists’ bid to enforce those long-dormant provisions. The agency is clashing with plaintiffs in Quiet Communities, Inc., et al. v. EPA , over whether it has unlawfully delayed several actions mandated by the NCA,...

Industry, Legal Experts Debate Courts’ Role In Addressing Climate Change

Industry attorneys and legal experts are debating the proper role of litigation -- much of which either directly or indirectly targets fossil fuel producers -- in addressing climate change, or whether such efforts should be largely left to legislative debates on Capitol Hill. “We don’t have in this country a legal system based on internalizing into certain products or activities all of the external costs,” argued Phil Goldberg, special counsel for the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, during a March 28 event...

Industry, State Critics Target Good Neighbor Rule’s ‘Over-Control’ Costs

Industry and state critics of EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan (GNP) interstate ozone rule are targeting its “over-control” of air emissions, excessive costs and inconsistent treatment of western states in their opening legal briefs, while renewing prior arguments that rule’s partial application renders it unlawful. In first-time merits briefs filed April 1 in the consolidated suit State of Utah v. EPA, now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the critics reprise arguments they...

EPA Seeks Rehearing Of Venue Ruling In West Virginia Ozone Plan Suit

EPA is seeking en banc review of an appellate panel ruling that blocked the agency from moving West Virginia’s litigation over its denial of the state’s interstate ozone plan to the District of Columbia Circuit, making arguments that directly contradict those of other states and industry groups now appealing the venue issue to the Supreme Court. In its March 29 petition for rehearing en banc , EPA asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to review...

Landmark Appellate Ruling Could Limit TSCA Rules On ‘Dead’ Chemical Uses

The landmark appellate ruling overturning a set of TSCA compliance orders could render unlawful EPA’s long-standing practice of crafting significant new use rules (SNURs) to block resumption of “dead” uses for existing chemicals -- just as the agency is using that approach for PFAS and other “high-priority” substances, environmental and industry attorneys say. “We need to see how the decision is applied but we should be concerned about its implications for the use of the SNUR authority generally for existing...

Settlement requires EPA to craft first-time ionic TMDL

Environmentalists are touting a settlement agreement with EPA that would compel the agency to develop first-time total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for ionic toxicity pollution in West Virginia streams caused by coal mining, a measure they say could set a precedent for the rest of the country. “With this agreement to set the first-ever rules for ionic toxicity, we're not just cleaning up our waterways in West Virginia; we're setting an example for the whole country. We've waited too long...

Critics Ask Justices To Keep ‘Good Neighbor’ SIP Suits In Regional Courts

Utah and Oklahoma, as well as a coalition of local industry groups, are separately petitioning the Supreme Court to settle an appellate split over the appropriate venue for suits challenging EPA’s disapproval of state ozone plans, arguing venue is proper only in regional courts, in a move with serious implications for EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan (GNP) rule, and litigation over state air plans in general. In petitions for certiorari filed with the high court March 28, the parties seek...

EPA Concedes Loss Of ‘Disparate Impact’ Civil Rights Authority In Louisiana

EPA is effectively conceding its loss of authority to enforce “disparate impacts” under civil rights law in Louisiana, filing a joint request with state officials for a federal district court to enter a final judgment based on the preliminary injunction barring both EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) from such enforcement. “[T]he parties are in agreement that the Court may enter final judgment in this case without additional dispositive motion practice; that there remain only certain discrete issues concerning...

EPA Vehicle Rule Offers Model For ‘Major Questions’ Rebuttal, Expert Says

EPA’s rebuttal against claims that its passenger vehicle emissions standards violate the “major questions” doctrine, which cites statutory mandates and past agency practice, represents an “impressive” defense, according to one legal expert who adds that the arguments should serve as a model for other agencies defending against similar attacks. “EPA’s thorough analysis also offers a critical roadmap for Department of Justice litigators who will soon brief this issue. Other agencies should study EPA’s approach and follow suit,” argues Max Sarinsky,...

Environmentalists seek to intervene in PM2.5 litigation

Environmentalists are seeking to intervene on behalf of EPA in litigation aiming to scrap the agency’s recently strengthened national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), though they argue in part that they should be allowed to intervene because the agency does not adequately represent their interests. Earthjustice and Clean Air Task Force, representing health, environmental and community organizations, filed a March 27 motion to intervene in support of EPA to the U.S. Court of Appeals for...

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