On August 30, 2015, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an opinion dismissing the Government’s lawsuit asserting that Thomas Lipar, a real estate developer, violated the Clean Water Act by discharging fill material into jurisdictional wetlands without a permit. According…
On August 27, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued a Clean Water Act (CWA) ruling affirming the decision of the lower court that STABL, Inc. the former owner and operator of a rendering plant in Lexington, Nebraska, violated the CWA and the Nebraska Environmental Protection Act. …
On August 21, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, presiding over a Clean Air Act (CAA) enforcement proceeding, granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss several alleged violations of the CAA on the basis that the prosecution of these violations was time-barred. The case is U.S.…
On August 27, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Southeastern Division, issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the new rule jointly promulgated by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers redefining “Waters of the United States,” which is a linchpin of federal regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling Friday in the case of ONRC Action v. United States Bureau of Reclamation. Affirming the district court, the Court of Appeals held that the transfer of water into the Klamath River by means of the Klamath Straits Drain, as…
On August 19, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a ruling discussing the impact of New York State’s “Fracking Moratorium” on some existing oil and gas leases. The case is Beardslee, et al., v. Inflection Energy, LLC, et al. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s…
In the latest ruling in the case of National Association of Manufacturers, et al., v. SEC, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held today that the Secuiety and Exchange Commission’s “conflict minerals” rule’s compelled disclosures—affecting the acquisition of certain minerals produced in the…
On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, issued a long ruling deciding a challenge to a new rule, adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in December 2013, which increased the maximum duration of a “programmatic permit” to “take” bald…
In Minnick, et al., v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, decided on August 12, 2015, involves conservation easements. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. Tax Court’s decision that disallowed a charitable deduction under Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-14(g)(2) claimed by the taxpayers for the donation of…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an interesting ruling on July 31, 2015 that is excellent guide to this esoteric corner of federal government regulation and practice. In the case of Bodie S. Knapp dba The Wild Side v. U.S.D.A, the Court of Appeals largely upheld a governmental order…