Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Findlaw environmental case summaries March 2009
Table of Contents - March 16-29th
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CASES
• Trout Unlimited v. Lohn
• Natural Resources Def. Coun. v. EPA
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U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 16, 2009
Trout Unlimited v. Lohn, No. 07-35623
In a challenge to a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regulation
distinguishing between natural and hatchery-spawned salmon and
steelhead when determining the level of protection each species should
receive under the Endangered Species Act, the majority of District
Court's rulings are affirmed where NMFS decisions were not arbitrary,
but reversed where summary judgment to Plaintiff was erroneous. Read more...
U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, March 20, 2009
Natural Resources Def. Coun. v. EPA, No. 07-1151
Petitioner's petition for review of EPA air quality regulations is
denied, where: 1) Petitioner failed to object to the EPA's definition
of "natural event" during the rulemaking process; and 2) the preamble
to the regulations was not a final agency action, and thus was not
reviewable under the Clean Air Act. Read more...
Table of Contents - March 9 - 15th
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CASES
• Am. Bird Conservancy v. Kempthorne
• Dallas v. Hall
• Hempstead County Hunting Club v. Southwestern Electric Power
• Washington v. Chu
• Delaware Dept. of Natural Res. & Envt'l. Ctrl. v. FERC
• Eastern Niagara Pub. Pwr. Alliance & Pub. Pwr. Coal. v. FERC
• State of California v. Allstate Ins. Co.
• People v. Tri-Union Seafoods, LLC
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U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 11, 2009
Am. Bird Conservancy v. Kempthorne, No. 07-4609
In an action involving environmental rulemaking, dismissal of
plaintiff's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is
affirmed where the challenge to the denial by the Fish and Wildlife
Service to undertake an emergency rulemaking listing the red knot
species of bird endangered, is rendered moot by the publication of the
warranted but precluded by higher priority listing in the periodic
Candidate Notice of Review. Read more...
U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 12, 2009
Dallas v. Hall, No. 08-10890
In an action by a city against the Fish & Wildlife Service based on
the agency's establishment of a conservation easement on the city's
land, summary judgment for Defendant is affirmed, where the FWS
considered a reasonable range of alternatives before creating the
easement, and was not required to consider the impact on a potential
water source. Read more...
U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 12, 2009
Hempstead County Hunting Club v. Southwestern Electric Power , No. 08-2613
In an environmental action, appeal of a denial of a preliminary
injunction to halt preconstruction activities for defendant's failure
to obtain the permit required by the Clean Air Act is dismissed as moot
where defendant has since received the Clean Air Act permit and
lawfully begun construction at the site. Read more...
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 10, 2009
Washington v. Chu, No. 06-35227
In an action by the state of Washington against the Department of
Energy for violation of hazardous waste management regulations, summary
judgment for Plaintiff is affirmed, where the Washington Hazardous
Waste Management Act plainly exempts designated nuclear waste from the
storage and land-disposal prohibitions "with respect to WIPP" only. Read more...
U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, March 13, 2009
Delaware Dept. of Natural Res. & Envt'l. Ctrl. v. FERC, No. 07-1007
Petitioner state agency's petition for review of FERC's approval of an
application to operate a natural gas site is dismissed, where
Petitioner lacked standing to challenge the order because it was
expressly conditioned on Petitioner's approval. Read more...
U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, March 13, 2009
Eastern Niagara Pub. Pwr. Alliance & Pub. Pwr. Coal. v. FERC, No. 07-1472
Petitioner's petition for review of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's (FERC) approval of a state agency's license to operate a
power project is denied, where FERC's decision to issue the license was
reasonable and reasonably explained. Read more...
Supreme Court of California, March 09, 2009
State of California v. Allstate Ins. Co. , No. S149988
In an action arising from efforts to obtain insurance coverage for
property damage liability imposed in a federal lawsuit as a result of
discharges from a hazardous waste disposal facility, grant of
defendant's motion for summary judgment is reversed where: 1) triable
issues of fact exist as to whether the 1969 overflow fell within the
meaning of the absolute pollution exclusion for watercourses contained
in the insurance policy; 2) evidence the State should have known
flooding was likely is insufficient to prove as an undisputed fact that
the waste discharge in 1978 due to flooding was expected and therefore
nonaccidental; and 3) there is a triable issue as to whether the cost
of repairing the property damage from the 1969 and 1978 discharges can
be quantitatively divided among the various causes of contamination. Read more...
California Appellate Districts, March 11, 2009
People v. Tri-Union Seafoods, LLC, No. A116792
In an action involving food warnings, trial court's ruling for the
defendant is affirmed where substantial evidence supports the trial
courts finding that methylmercury is naturally occurring in canned tuna
and thus defendants and other tuna companies are exempt from the
warning requirements of Proposition 65. Read more...
Table of Contents - March 2 - 8th
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CASES
• Summers v. Earth Island Inst.
• Martex Farms, S.E. v. US EPA
• Izaak Walton League of Am., Inc. v. Kimball
• Latino Issues Forum v. EPA
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Summers v. Earth Island Inst., No. 07-463
In an action challenging Forest Service regulations exempting certain
land management activities from the agency's review process, an
injunction against the regulations is reversed where Plaintiffs lacked
standing to challenge the regulations absent a live dispute over a
concrete application of those regulations. Read more...
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 05, 2009
Martex Farms, S.E. v. US EPA, No. 08-1311
Final decision and order of the Environmental Appeals Board holding
plaintiff liable for violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act is affirmed where: 1) there is no legal basis for
plaintiff's argument that the EPA's enforcement action amounted to
selective prosecution; 2) plaintiff's claim that it was deprived of a
full and fair opportunity to present its case fails as the denial of
its motion to depose four witnesses was justified; and 3) there is no
evidence that there is any basis for reversal as to the substantive
violations committed by plaintiff. Read more...
U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 06, 2009
Izaak Walton League of Am., Inc. v. Kimball , No. 07-3689
In an action involving the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act,
district court's grant of defendant's motion for summary judgment is
affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's claims that the Forest Service violated
the Act are time barred by the six year statute of limitations in the
Act; and 2) there is no appellate jurisdiction over the appeal of the
district court's order remanding the matter to the Forest Service to
prepare an environmental impact statement assessing the sound impact of
the proposed snowmobile trail. Read more...
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 05, 2009
Latino Issues Forum v. EPA, No. 06-71907
In a petition for review of the EPA's approval of a state air-pollutant
reduction program, the petition is denied where the EPA acted lawfully
under 42 U.S.C. section 7509(d)(2) by not requiring implementation of
"all feasible measures" into the program. Read more...
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