Litigation
What’s holding up the Clean Water Act jurisdictional guidance?
Cross-posted on CPRBlog. People on both sides of the political spectrum agree that the boundaries of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act are murky, to say the least. But efforts by EPA and the Corps of Engineers to clarify those boundaries have been tied up in the White House for more than a year, …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court Upholds Local Government Bans on Pot Dispensaries
In its most important land use decision since 2011, the California Supreme Court has upheld local governments’ power to ban marijuana dispensaries within their jurisdictions. Last week the court unanimously rejected marijuana advocates’ claim that such local bans are preempted by California state law. The Supreme Court’s opinion in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Roberts Court’s Corporate Romance
Forty years ago, before going on the Supreme Court, Lewis Powell wrote a call to arms for business interests, calling on them to counter “enemies of the free enterprise system” like Ralph Nader. Among other things, he recommended a concerted campaign to influence the courts. The campaign seems to have been a success. The NY Times …
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CONTINUE READINGOne More For the Supreme Court Scorecard: Chief Justice Roberts Feels Very Sorry for Multinational Corporations
In my view, Dan’s helpful post the other day about the Supreme Court’s environmental cases neglected one very important case decided just a few days ago: Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, about which I have blogged earlier. The “in my view” in the last sentence is more than throat-clearing, for Kiobel raises the question, also …
CONTINUE READINGOT 2012 Supreme Court Scorecard
This Supreme Court Term features a number of environmental cases. We’re now about three-quarters of the way through the Term, so I thought it might be helpful to update my earlier post about the Court’s environmental agenda. I’ve also added links to postings about the cases. My impression is that the Court is interested …
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CONTINUE READINGIndustry Coalition Petitions for Supreme Court Review of D.C. Circuit Decision on Greenhouse Gas Rules
Yesterday, American Chemistry Council and a coalition of other industry groups filed a petition for U.S. Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ June, 26 2012 decision upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas rules. As Dan previously discussed here, the D.C. Circuit denied rehearing of its decision in December. The American …
CONTINUE READINGU.S. Bureau of Land Management Violated NEPA When Selling Oil and Gas Leases in California
On April 8, a federal magistrate judge issued the first major ruling in a California fracking lawsuit, finding that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to take the necessary “hard look” at the impact of hydraulic fracturing when it sold oil and gas leases in California. …
CONTINUE READINGPracticing Environmental Law: The World of New Lawyers
The National Council of Bar Examiners has just finished a fascinating survey of what lawyers do in their first three years of practice. Some of the most interesting findings relate to environmental law. About five percent of new lawyers report that their practice areas are environment or natural resources. As of a couple of years …
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CONTINUE READINGFinally Cleaning Up In the Galilee
Residents of northern Israel got a welcome victory a couple of days ago: the nation’s High Court held that Eitanit Construction Products, a politically well-connected firm that polluted cities across the region with asbestos, must pay half the cost of cleaning it up. Friable asbestos contaminating whole cities might be a dim memory in the United …
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CONTINUE READINGBreaking News: PACE Dies in the Ninth Circuit
The West Coast PACE litigation party appears to have ended. After favorable rulings from the California Northern District Court for PACE backers, the Ninth Circuit today dismissed the case outright. As background, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs allow municipal governments to finance residential and commercial energy improvements, with property owners repaying the governments via …
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