Recent Developments

• Date: 01 October 2016

46 ELR 10892 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 10-2016

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the Congress

Congress was on recess for most of August, so there a re no congressional materials to report for that month. Please visit

http://elr.info/legislative for current and archived materials.

In the Courts

ese entries summarize recent cases under the following categories: Air, Energy, Governance, Land Use, Natural

Resources, Toxic Substances, Waste, Water, and Wildlife. e entries are arranged alphabetica lly by case name within

each category. is material is updated monthly. For archived materials, visit http://www.elr.info/judicial.

AIR

-

tection Agency, Nos.11-1108 et al., 46

ELR 20131 (D.C. Cir. July 29, 2016).

e D.C. Circuit, in a 162-page opin-

ion, granted in part and denied in par t

petitions challenging t hree EPA rules

setting NESH APs for industrial, com-

mercial, and institutional boilers and

commercial and industrial solid waste

incinerator units.

WildEarth Guardians v. Environmen-

, No. 14-1145, 46

ELR 20130 (D.C. Cir. July 29, 2016).

e D.C. Circuit upheld EPA’s compli-

ance deadlines for states to meet t he

NAAQS for ne particulate matter.

ENERGY

-

, Nos. 14-2147 et al., 46

ELR 20137 (7th Cir. Aug. 8, 2016).

e Seventh Circuit denied petitions

for review challenging t wo DOE rules

aimed at improving the energy ef-

ciency of commercial refrigeration

equipment.

GOVERNANCE

Chevron Corp. v. Donziger, Nos. 14-

0826(L), -0832(C), 46 ELR 20136 (2d

Cir. Aug. 8, 2016). e Second Circuit

armed a district court decision hold-

ing that an $8.646 -billion judgment

granted by an Ecuadorian c ourt for

pollution in the Amazon was procured

by bribery, coercion, and fraud and

enjoining an attorney and two of his

Ecuadorian clients from seek ing to

enforce the judgment in the United

States.



, No. 15-30962, 46

ELR 20143 (5th Cir. Aug. 23, 2016).

e Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court

decision that the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers must bear al l the costs of de-

authorizing the Mississippi River-Gulf

Outlet, instead holding that the Corps’

cost-sharing formula with the state of

Louisiana was rea sonable.

LAND USE



, No. 14-15836, 46

ELR 20140 (9th Cir. Aug. 15, 2016).

e Ninth Circuit upheld BLM’s

proposal to expand access for o-road

vehicle use in the Imperial Sand Du nes

Special Recreation Manag ement Area.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Idaho Conservation League v. Lannom,

No. 1:15-cv-246, 46 ELR 20134 (D.

Idaho Aug. 2, 2016). A district court

held that the U.S. Forest Service vio-

lated NEPA, the Wilderness Act, and

the National Forest Management Act

in connection with its decision to allow

drilling, road reconstruction, and the

use of motorized vehicles and heavy

equipment at the Golden Hand Mine

in the Frank Church-River of No Re-

turn Wilderness Area.

, No. S222620, 46

ELR 20142 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Aug. 22,

2016). e Supreme Court of Califor-

nia held that the state’s moratorium on

the use of suction dredges to mine gold

from rivers was not preempted by fed-

eral mining law.

TOXIC SUBSTANCES



-

cy, No. 14-72794, 46 ELR 20139 (9th

Cir. Aug. 12, 2016). e Ninth Circuit

denied EPA’s request for an additional

six months to take nal ac tion on its

proposal to ban the pesticide chlorpy-

rifos in response to an admin istrative

petition led nearly nine years ago.

WASTE

.,

No. 15-35228, 46 ELR 20129 (9th Cir.

July 27, 2016). e Ninth Circuit held

that a mining company that operates a

smelter in Canada should not be held

liable as an arran ger under CERCLA

for the release and threatened release

of hazardous substance s in the Upper

Columbia River.

Copyright © 2016 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.