Tag: legal decisions

Power Companies Lose Suit to Avoid Coal Ash Cleanup

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a win for the EPA on June 28, 2024, when it decided to dismiss Electric Energy Inc. (EEI), et al., v. EPA, et al. In the suit, a group of power generating companies sued the EPA, challenging its interpretation of its 2015 coal combustion […]

The Demise of the Chevron Deference and the Future of Administrative Law

On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) made history in issuing a landmark 6-to-3 ruling overturning a 40-year-old administrative law standard known as Chevron deference. The ruling opens the door for a tsunami of legal challenges to federal rulemaking. Federal regulations affect nearly every facet of daily life, from the cars we drive […]

EPA sign, Environmental Protection Agency

Court Rules EPA Violated ESA in Granting Florida CWA Permitting Authority

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled that the EPA violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in granting the state of Florida Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permitting authority. The court’s order in the case, Center for Biological Diversity et. al., v. Michael S. Regan et al., vacates the Sunshine […]

Judge Rejects RCRA MPU Exemption

A recent decision by an EPA administrative law judge (ALJ) rejected an EPA argument of its interpretation of the Manufacturing Process Unit (MPU) exemption. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) governs the EPA’s authority to regulate the proper management of hazardous and nonhazardous solid waste.  The Act determines the boundary where the manufacturing process […]

Federal Judge Orders EPA to Update Oil Spill Cleanup Regulations

A federal judge earlier this month ordered the EPA to update a decades-old regulation that currently allows the use of toxic chemicals in cleaning up offshore oil spills. “The agency ‘delayed unreasonably’ by waiting at least six years to finalize draft regulations updating the 1994 rules, said William H. Orrick, a judge in the U.S. […]