Recent Developments

• Date: 01 December 2014

44 ELR 11108 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 12-2014

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the Courts

ese entries summarize recent cases under the following categories: A ir, Energy, La nd Use, Toxic Substances, Waste,

Water, and Wildlife. e entries are arranged alphabetically by case name within each category. is material is updated

monthly. For archived materials, visit http://elr.info/articles/news-analysis/cases-update/archive.

AIR



, No.

11-1334, 44 ELR 20230 (D.C. Cir.

Oct. 21, 2014). e D.C. Circuit dis-

missed automobile industry groups’ pe-

tition challenging an EPA rule intended

to mitigate the misfueling of vehicles

and engines with gasoli ne containing

greater than 10% ethanol.



, No. 4:14-CV-3006,

44 ELR 20221 (D. Neb. Oct. 6, 2014).

A district court dismissed Nebraska’s

lawsuit challenging EPA’s proposed

standards to limit ca rbon dioxide emis-

sions from new or modied fossil fuel-

red electric utility generating units.

-

tection Agency, No. 14-1054, 44 ELR

20223 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 3, 2014). e

D.C. Circuit upheld EPA’s denial of a

petition to reconsider an Agency rule

allocating production allowances for

hydrochlorouorocarbons, ozone-

depleting refrigerants.



, Nos.

12-9596 et al., 44 ELR 20229 (10th

Cir. Oct. 21, 2014). e Tenth Circuit

denied petitions for review challenging

EPA’s approval of a regional cap-and-

trade program regulating sulfur d ioxide

emissions to address regional haze over

the Colorado Plateau, a Class I area .

ENERGY



, No. 14CV30092, 44

ELR 20225 (Colo. Dist. Ct. Sept. 25,

2014). A Colorado court held that a

voter-approved local ban on hydraulic

fracturing ca nnot apply retroactively to

ban oil and gas operations that a cit y

approved in a prior agreement.

LAND USE



,

Nos. 2:11-cv-578, -647, 44 ELR 20214

(M.D. Fla. Sept. 19, 2014). A district

court upheld the National Park Service’s

plan to allow o-road vehicle use on des-

ignated trails in the “addition lands” of

Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve.

, No. 13-

129, 44 ELR 20226 (D. Mont. Sept.

25, 2014). A district court granted in

part and denied in part motions for

summary judgment in a ca se involving

logging projects in the Flathead Na-

tional Forest.

, Nos. 11-8171 et al.,

44 ELR 20219 (D. Ariz. Sept. 30,

2014). A district court upheld DOI’s

decision to withdraw more than one

million acres of federal la nd adjacent to

the Grand Canyon National Park from

uranium mining.

TOXIC SUBSTANCES

, No. 12-15424,

44 ELR 20222 (11th Cir. Oct. 14,

2014). e Eleventh Circ uit dismi ssed

milita ry fam ilies’ claims against the

government u nder the Feder al Tort

Claims Act for va rious health prob-

lems due to t heir alleged ex posure

to toxic subs tances in the d rinking

water whi le living at a mi litary base in

North Ca rolina.

WASTE

Anthony Wayne Corp. v. Elco Industries,

Inc., No. 3:13CV1406, 44 ELR 20231

(N.D. Ind. Oct. 17, 2014). A district

court denied a manufacturing com-

pany’s motion to dismiss a landowner’s

state-law claims aga inst it for breach of

contract and for waste, but granted the

company’s motion to dismiss the land-

owner’s claims for cleanup costs under

CERCLA and state law.

Boeing Co. v. Movassaghi, No. 11-

55903, 44 ELR 20215 (9th Cir. Sept.

19, 2014). e Ninth Circuit invali-

dated a California law that prescribes

cleanup standards for rad ioactive con-

tamination at the Santa Su sana Field

Laboratory, a former federal nuclear

testing facilit y near Los Angeles.



No. 12-cv-1839, 44 ELR 20232 (6th Cir.

Oct. 10, 2014). e Sixth Circuit held

that a Florida utility’s lawsuit to recover

cleanup costs it has incurred in connec-

tion with the release of hazardous sub-

stances at two manufactured gas plant

sites is time barred under CERCLA.



Nuclear Regulatory Commission, No. 13-

1259, 44 ELR 20227 (D.C. Cir. Oct.

14, 2014). e D.C. Circuit upheld an

NRC order transferring regulator y au-

thority over decommissioning activities

at a former aluminum production plant

to the state of New Jersey under the

Atomic Energy Act.

WATER



, No. 10-0541, 44

Copyright © 2014 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.