
Subscribe for updates
Recent Posts
- Massachusetts District Court Holds That Breathing in Polluted Air Without A Concrete Injury Traceable To The Defendant Does Not Confer Standing Under The Clean Air Act
- District Court Holds That Breathing Polluted Air Without Concrete Injury Traceable To Defendant Does Not Confer Standing Under The Clean Air Act
- New Jersey Court Declines to Follow DEP Statutory Interpretation and Narrows Exemptions From Highlands Act Permitting Requirements
- Increased Risk of Illness is Not Cognizable Injury Under Delaware Law, Delaware Supreme Court Holds
- Eleventh Circuit En Banc Elaborates upon Express Preemption Analysis in Recent FIFRA Decision
Topics
- Citizens Suit
- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
- FIFRA
- Georgia
- Major Questions Doctrine
- Lead Paint
- Greenwashing
- Good Faith Settlement
- Federal Facilities
- Statutory Notice
- Oil Pollution Act
- Federal Jurisdiction
- Owner Liability
- Court of Federal Claims
- Ripeness
- Renewable Fuel Standard
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- Greenhouse Gas
- Refinery
- Alaska
- Florida
- National Priorities List
- Vapor Intrusion
- Solvents
- Price-Anderson Act
- Solid Waste Management Act
- Personal Jurisdiction
- Successor Liability
- Potentially Responsible Parties
- Operator Liability
- Environmental Covenants
- Federal Circuit
- National Contingency Plan
- Divisibility
- Apportionment
- Strict Liability
- Water Pollution Control Act
- Public Utilities Commission
- Historic Resources
- Utilities
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Water Use
- Ohio
- PFAS
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Arbitration
- Climate Change
- Auer Deference
- Fees
- Commonwealth Court
- West Virginia
- Forest Service
- TSCA
- Asbestos
- Martime
- Federal Tort Claims Act
- Gold King Mine
- New Mexico
- Utah
- Tribal Lands
- Delaware
- Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
- National Forest Management Act
- FERC
- United States Supreme Court
- Endangered Species Act
- Chevron Deference
- HSCA
- Corporate Veil
- Alter Ego
- Allocation
- Eleventh Amendment
- Delaware River Basin Commission
- Mining
- Intervention
- New Hampshire
- Building Materials
- First Circuit
- PCBs
- Property Damage
- Groundwater
- Natural Resource Damages
- Innocent Party
- Brownfields
- Brownfield
- Environmental Rights Amendment
- Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- PHMSA
- FOIA
- Effluents
- Sediment Sites
- EHB
- Pipelines
- Texas
- Missouri
- Injunction
- Coal Ash
- Spoliation
- Stormwater
- TMDL
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Colorado
- Michigan
- Drinking Water
- North Carolina
- Bankruptcy
- Civil Penalties
- Clean Streams Law
- Hearing Board
- Arranger Liability
- Retroactive
- Sovereign Immunity
- Property Value
- Tax assessment
- Fair Market Value
- Stigma
- Damages
- Storage Tank
- Energy
- Fifth Circuit
- Electric
- Indemnification
- Arizona
- Ninth Circuit
- Attorney-Client
- OPRA
- Iowa
- Fourth Circuit
- Discovery Rule
- Eighth Circuit
- Administrative Appeals
- Taxes
- Preemption
- CAFA
- Freshwater Wetlands Protect Act
- Inspection
- Residential
- New York
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Natural Gas Act
- HAPs
- Hazardous Air Pollutants
- Mercury
- D.C. Circuit
- Condemnation
- Takings
- Natural Gas
- Storage
- Flooding
- Takings Clause
- Fifth Amendment
- Causation
- Spill Act
- NEPA
- Interior
- Tenth Circuit
- Mineral Leasing Act
- California
- Act 13
- Zoning
- Insurance Coverage
- Duty to Defend
- Eminent Domain
- Landfill
- Sixth Circuit
- Private Right of Action
- Illinois
- Water
- Citizen Suit
- Diligent Prosecution
- Subject Matter Jurisdiction
- Arkansas
- Pennsylvania
- Press
- Uncategorized
- Maryland
- Eleventh Circuit
- Equal-Footing Doctrine
- Montana
- Navigability
- Riverbed
- Indiana
- Seventh Circuit
- Breach of Contract
- Public Lands
- Green House Counsel
- Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser
- Rulemaking
- CISWI
- Enforcement
- Consent Decree
- Equity
- Laches
- Delay Notice
- EPA
- Boiler MACT
- Declaratory Relief
- Second Circuit
- Contribution
- Standing
- NPDES
- Procedure
- Medical Monitoring
- Dimock
- Case Update
- Legislation
- Contamination
- Dukes
- Louisiana
- Certification
- CLE
- Discovery
- Expert Witness
- Privilege
- Work Product
- Decisions of Note
- Cases to Watch
- CERCLA
- Cost Recovery
- Defense Costs
- Insurance
- Real Estate
- Response Action Contractors
- Consultant Liability
- Negligence
- Remediation
- Army Corps
- Donovan
- Rapanos
- Kentucky
- Nuisance
- Class Actions
- Odors
- Trespass
- Farming
- Hog Barn
- Administrative Hearing
- ISRA
- New Jersey
- Informal Agency Action
- Combustion
- Emissions
- Railroad
- RCRA
- Waste
- Air
- Cancer
- Speaking Engagements
- Federal Procedure
- Removal
- Third Circuit
- Toxic Torts
- Statute of Limitations
- Title V
- Clean Air Act
- Permits
- Cleanup
- Superfund
- Supreme Court
- Camp Lejeune
- Multi-District Litigation
- Statute of Repose
- Tolling
- Administrative Procedures Act
- Deeds
- Clean Water Act
- Marcellus Shale
- Due Process
- Mineral Rights
- Enforcement Action
- Wetlands
- Royalties
- Drilling
- Exploration
- Leases
- Oil and Gas
Blog editor
Blog Contributors
On September 14, 2023, in Conservation Law Foundation v. Academy Bus, a Massachusetts District Court held that the members of the Conservation Law Foundation (the “Foundation”) lacked standing to challenge the idling of buses under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). Conservation Law Found. v. Acad. Express, LLC., No. 20-10032-WGY, 2023 WL 5984517, at *1 (D. Mass. Sept. 14, 2023). Specifically, the court held that simply breathing in polluted air, without any concrete injury that is fairly traceable to the defendant, is not sufficient to prove an actual injury under the CAA. Read More »
On September 14, 2023, in Conservation Law Foundation v. Academy Bus, a Massachusetts District Court held that the members of the Conservation Law Foundation (the “Foundation”) lacked standing to challenge the idling of buses under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). Conservation Law Found. v. Acad. Express, LLC., No. 20-10032-WGY, 2023 WL 5984517, at *1 (D. Mass. Sept. 14, 2023). Specifically, the court held that simply breathing in polluted air, without any concrete injury that is fairly traceable to the defendant, is not sufficient to prove an actual injury under the CAA. Read More »
In an issue of first impression, in Matter of Proposed Construction of Compressor Station (CS327), No. A-3616-20, 2023 WL 5614411 (N. J. Super. Ct. Aug. 31, 2023), the New Jersey Superior Court rejected the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”)’s interpretation of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (the “Highlands Act”) and found that a permittee’s project upgrade must be “routine” to be exempted from the strict permitting requirements of the Highlands Act. Read More »
On August 24, 2023, in Catherine Baker v. Croda Inc., No. 393, 2022 (Del. 2023), the Delaware Supreme Court held that an increased risk of illness, without present manifestation of physical harm, is not a cognizable injury under Delaware law. Read More »
In a recent en banc decision out of the Eleventh Circuit, the Court found that the panel had used an improper standard in holding that a state law failure to warn cause of action was not preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”) and after clarifying the appropriate inquiry, sent the matter back to the panel for further consideration. In the case, the plaintiff averred that after years of using the popular weedkiller, Roundup, he developed cancer, which he claims Monsanto failed to adequately warn consumers was a risk of using that product. Carson v. Monsanto Company, 72 F.4th 1261 (11th Cir. 2023). Monsanto responded that plaintiff’s Georgia state law claims were expressly or impliedly preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”) because the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approved a label for Roundup which lacked a cancer warning, and classified Roundup’s principal ingredient, glyphosate, as “not likely to be carcinogenic.” Read More »
On July 25, 2023, a Third Circuit panel rejected an environmental group’s challenge of federally approved changes to Pennsylvania’s State Implementation Plan (“SIP”), holding that the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) emissions-based analysis did not violate the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Env’t Prot. Agency, 2023 WL 471884, at *6 (3d Cir. 2023). The panel’s reasoning focused on a close statutory reading of §7410 of the CAA, which prevents EPA from approving any SIP revision that would “interfere with any applicable requirement for attainment and reasonable further progress” in reaching the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”). Id. at *4. NAAQS are air quality benchmarks that each state must work toward by reducing their air pollution levels. Id. at *1. Ultimately, the Third Circuit held that Pennsylvania’s revisions did not interfere with NAAQS attainment because Pennsylvania reasonably concluded that emissions would likely decrease under the source specific requirements imposed by the revised plan. Id. at *4. Read More »
This post was authored by Alice Douglas, with contributions from Summer Associate Reilly Wright
On July 5, 2023, the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved the largest offshore wind energy project to date—known as Ocean Wind 1—which will entail the construction of up to 98 wind turbines and up to 3 offshore substations off the coast of New Jersey over the next two years. Ocean Wind 1, financed by the Danish company Orsted, is the third offshore wind energy project to gain approval by the Biden administration, following the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and the South Fork Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and New York, which are both currently under construction. Read More »
On June, 23, 2023, in the decision In re First Reserve Management., L.P., No. 22-0227, 2023 WL 4140454 (Tex. June 23, 2023), the Texas Supreme Court analyzed when a corporate parent’s control over its subsidiary’s operations might give rise to the parent’s liability under a “negligent undertaking” theory. The Texas Supreme Court held that, in order to sustain a negligent undertaking theory against a corporate parent for its role in its subsidiary’s operations under Texas law, a plaintiff must have proof that the parent engaged in affirmative, direct control of the aspect of the operations of the subsidiary that gave rise to the alleged injury. It is not enough that the parent appoints directors of the subsidiary, or that it owns a controlling stake in the subsidiary. The decision emphasizes that a corporate parent’s liability for the actions of its subsidiary is the exception, and not the general rule, and it is a plaintiff’s obligation to plead facts in support of any exception to the general rule that it intends to rely upon. Read More »
In Sinclair Wyoming Refining Company, LLC v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. 22-9530 (10th Cir. July 5, 2023), the Honorable Scott M. Matheson, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed a petition for review filed by Sinclair Wyoming Refining Company, LLC (“Sinclair”) of an email from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) for lack of jurisdiction because it was not a final agency action. Sinclair applied for a hardship exemption from EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standards for compliance year 2018 and, when EPA did not immediately respond, submitted Renewable Identification Numbers (“RINs”) in compliance with the regulations. Sinclair’s application was initially denied by EPA and later reconsidered and approved. Sinclair asked EPA in two separate emails to return the RINs that it had submitted for calendar year 2018. In April 2022, the Director of EPA’s Fuel Compliance Center responded to Sinclair’s email, stating, in relevant part, that “the 2018 RINs [would] not be returned… .” Sinclair filed the petition for review of EPA’s April 2022 email. Read More »
On June 23, 2023, in MRP Properties Company LLC v. United States, No. 22-1789, 2023 WL 4141227 (6th Cir. June 15, 2023), the Sixth Circuit decided that despite having directed production at refineries during World War II, the United States government did not qualify as an “operator” of those facilities under CERCLA, providing additional guidance for courts evaluating what kinds of activities subject a party to operator liability. Read More »