This post was written by MGKF summer associate Ella Souder

In March 2023, the State of New Jersey sued Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) in state court alleging that Dow was responsible for contamination caused by the chemical 1,4-dioxane which was used as an inhibitor in cleaning agents which Dow had sold decades earlier to, among others, the United States Government and military (the “Government”).  Dow removed the case to United States District Court for the District of New Jersey under the federal-officer removal statute, claiming that in producing this chemical it was “acting under” the auspices of the Government.  The District Court remanded the matter back to state court and on June 11, 2025 the Third Circuit affirmed the remand, holding that simply providing a product to the Government, even if the product complied with government specifications, was insufficient to implicate the federal-officer removal statute. See New Jersey v. Dow Chemical Co., 2025 WL 1646963 (3^rd Cir. 2025). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Contamination, Federal Jurisdiction, Federal Procedure, New Jersey, Removal, Third Circuit

On June 6, 2025, the D.C. Circuit ruled in Appalachian Voices et al. v. FERC that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of an extension of the construction deadline for Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC’s (MVP) MVP Southgate Project (the “Southgate Project”) was permissible, denying environmental groups’ petitions for review. This case potentially forecasts future judicial treatment of agency action in the aftermath of the Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision, and signals how courts may treat future challenges aimed at delaying development in light of recent curtailment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Appeals, Agency Action, Chevron Deference, D.C. Circuit, FERC, Loper Bright, NEPA, Oil and Gas

On June 18, 2025, the Supreme Court decided EPA v Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC et al., and its companion case Oklahoma et al. v. EPA, clarifying the tripartite framework for determining venue in Clean Air Act (“CAA” or “Act”) litigation.  Looking at the CAA's venue provision (42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1)), the Court explained that if a challenge is to an “nationally applicable” EPA action the challenge should be directed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the matter ends there.  But, if the challenge is to a “locally or regionally applicable” EPA action, then typically those challenges belong in the relevant regional Circuit Court.  However, when a “locally or regionally applicable” action falls within the “nationwide scope or effect” exception, which requires the action be (1) “based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect” and (2) accompanied by an EPA finding to the same effect, the Court instructed that the matter should be routed back to the D.C. Circuit.  Applying this understanding of CAA's venue provision, the Court reached different conclusions in Calumet and Oklahoma, finding respectively that the “nationwide scope or effect” exception applied in one instance and not in the other. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Agency Action, Air, Clean Air Act, D.C. Circuit, EPA, Federal Procedure, Procedure, Refinery, Renewable Fuel Standard, State Implementation Plans, Supreme Court, United States Supreme Court, Venue