Last month in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied petitions for review of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s” or the “Agency’s”) May 2024 designation of two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) chemicals—perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (“PFOS”)—as “hazardous substances” (the “Designation”) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or the “Act”).  The petitions were filed by industry interest groups that use, transport, or discharge PFOA and PFOS (the “Petitioners”).  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Procedures Act, Agency Action, CERCLA, Contamination, D.C. Circuit, EPA, Loper Bright, PFAS, Pollutants, Potentially Responsible Parties, Rulemaking, Water

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a decision on August 3, 2026, which clarified the scope of the diligent prosecution bar to citizen suits under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”).  The decision was a partial victory for the environmental organizations that brought the lawsuit and adds to the body of appellate decisions aiming to elucidate this heavily litigated area of the law. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Air, CERCLA, Citizen Suit, Citizens Suit, Clean Air Act, Colorado, Consent Decree, Diligent Prosecution, Emissions, EPA, Loper Bright, Pollutants, Superfund, Tenth Circuit

Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held in City of Brunswick v. Honeywell International, Inc., 2026 WL 2224648 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2026), that potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) implementing an EPA-selected CERCLA remedy pursuant to a consent decree may be “acting under” a federal officer for purposes of the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1). The decision may provide a basis for such PRPs to remove related state-law claims to federal court. The decision also holds that an appeal of a remand order involving federal officer removal automatically stays district court proceedings, including the remand order, pending appeal. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Causation, CERCLA, Cleanup, Consent Decree, Contamination, Eleventh Circuit, EPA, Federal Jurisdiction, Potentially Responsible Parties, Preemption, Remediation, Removal, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Superfund

On June 25, 2026, the United States Supreme Court issued a significant preemption decision in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, holding that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”) preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims that would require cancer warnings on Roundup’s label beyond those approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). In a 7-2 opinion by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court reversed a Missouri judgment awarding more than $1 million to plaintiff John Durnell, who alleged that Monsanto’s Roundup caused his cancer and should have included a cancer warning. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: EPA, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, FIFRA, Supreme Court, Toxic Torts, United States Supreme Court

In a significant decision for Clean Air Act enforcement, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California held that citizens may pursue Clean Air Act claims against a state or local air agency in their regulatory capacity for allegedly failing to carry out State Implementation Plan (SIP) obligations. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Agency Action, Air, California, Citizen Suit, Clean Air Act, Emissions, Hazardous Air Pollutants, Pollutants

In June 2026, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (the “District Court”) found a Montclair, New Jersey ordinance prohibiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers to be a valid exercise of state police power not preempted under the federal Clean Air Act (“CAA”). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Air, Clean Air Act, Emissions, Legislation, New Jersey, Preemption

In West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc., et al. v. The Chemours Company FC, LLC, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court decision to preliminarily enjoin The Chemours Company (“Chemours”) from discharging hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (“HFPO-DA”)—a Chemours-created PFAS chemical— from its Washington Works facility in excess of its permitted limit.  In doing so, the Fourth Circuit took no issue with the district court’s standing analysis, but determined the district court made legal and factual errors in its irreparable harm determination. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Citizens Suit, Clean Water Act, Contamination, Drinking Water, Fourth Circuit, Injunction, Permits, PFAS, Pollutants, Standing, Water

In an Order issued on May 18, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied a motion for a stay pending appeal filed by a coalition of environmental groups, who sought to halt the construction of a pipeline project in Virginia and North Carolina. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Appeals, Agency Action, Army Corps, Citizen Suit, Clean Water Act, Energy, Fourth Circuit, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Act, North Carolina, Oil and Gas, Permits, Pipelines, West Virginia, Wetlands

In a significant April 2026 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court injunction that had halted operation of an immigration detention facility constructed in the Florida Everglades (“the Facility”). The case, Friends of the Everglades v. Secretary of Homeland Security, No. 25-12873, turned on two threshold issues: (1) whether the plaintiffs challenged a final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and (2) whether the project constituted a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  The Eleventh Circuit answered both questions in the negative, concluding that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits and that the preliminary injunction should not have been granted. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Procedures Act, Citizen Suit, Eleventh Circuit, Florida, Informal Agency Action, NEPA

Earlier this month in Chevron USA Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish, the U.S. Supreme Court broadly interpreted the meaning of “relating to” in the federal officer removal statute.  In doing so, it vacated the judgment of the Fifth Circuit that held defendant had not sufficiently demonstrated that plaintiffs’ suit was “for or relating to” the acts it performed under the authority of a federal officer.  The Court looked to the ordinary meaning of “relating to” across various contexts and held that defendant had shown the instant lawsuit implicated acts “that are closely connected to the performance of its federal duties.” Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Federal Jurisdiction, Federal Procedure, Louisiana, Oil and Gas, Permits, Procedure, Removal, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Supreme Court, United States Supreme Court