Tag Archives: Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court’s Jarkesy Ruling Shifts Power for Federal Enforcement

Keith Bradly, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP Partner and Co-Chair of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice, authored an article for Bloomberg Law discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in SEC v. Jarkesy. The Court found that when the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks civil penalties for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment affords a … Continue Reading

The End of “Chevron” or Its Rebirth?

Fishermen in the small town of Cape May, New Jersey, are at the epicenter of a legal challenge that could reshape the landscape of agency authority. The fishermen are challenging the entrenched “Chevron” doctrine, which for years has afforded deference to government agencies with respect to reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes. Once again, the US … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Narrows the Definition of “Waters of the United States” with Respect to Wetlands for Purposes of Federal Jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act

On May 25, 2023, the US Supreme Court, in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, ___ US_ (2023) (“Sackett”) held that “waters of the United States” for purposes of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) refer “only to geographical features that are described in ordinary parlance as “streams, oceans, rivers and lakes’ and to … Continue Reading

From Farm to Table: How the Supreme Court’s Pork Ruling Impacts States’ Rights and Doing Business in California

In a heavily fractured decision last month, the U.S. Supreme Court held in National Pork Producers Council, et al v. Ross, et al, that a California law (Cal. Health & Safety Code 25991, known as Proposition 12), which forbids the in-state sale of whole pork meat that comes from breeding pigs “confined in a cruel … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority to Regulate Carbon Emissions from Existing Power Plants Under Major Questions Doctrine with Implications for Agency Rulemaking Generally

On June 30, 2022, the US Supreme Court held that the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) “[c]apping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that [would] force” energy generation shifting from coal to natural gas to renewables nationwide was not within the statutory authority that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), codified as 42 … Continue Reading

Climate Change Lawsuit Reaches the US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in an important climate change lawsuit, BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. The lawsuit pits the Mayor and City of Baltimore against twenty-six multinational oil and gas companies that Baltimore claims are responsible for climate change. Baltimore alleges that the companies contributed to climate change … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Adopts “Functional Equivalent” Standard for Discharges of Pollutants to Surface Water Through Groundwater

Recently, in a 6-3 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Maui), the United States Supreme Court held that a discharge of pollution to groundwater may be regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA).  The Supreme Court’s review arose from a case involving a wastewater treatment and reclamation facility in Hawaii that injects … Continue Reading

We Finally Have the US Supreme Court Decision in Atlantic Richfield, But Who Really Won?

On April 20, 2020, the US Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Gregory Christian. In short, the Court held that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) does not strip Montana state courts of jurisdiction over landowners’ claims for restoration damages; but the Court also held … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Grapples with Balancing Landowners’ Rights Against CERCLA Authority

Two months ago, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Gregory Christian. The case is critically important to environmental lawyers in the United States because it may alter the operation of Congress’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) scheme for environmental remediation. CERCLA gives EPA broad … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Affirms Tweaked Auer Deference, But Is It Now a “Paper Tiger”?

In our prior coverage of Kisor v. Wilkie, we predicted that the Court would impose “greater scrutiny” on “administrative agencies’ . . . interpretation of their regulations.”  And the Court did.  The Court’s decision will affect every aspect of the federal government’s regulation of environmental, safety, and health. At the end of its term, the … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court to Reconsider Key Agency Deference Standard

Often called the fourth branch of government, administrative agencies implement the labyrinth of federal regulations governing people and companies in the United States. Administrative agencies play a particularly important role in regulating environmental, health, and safety in the United States. Those administrative agencies may soon face greater scrutiny from federal courts in their interpretation of their own … Continue Reading

Flint Michigan Lead-Tainted Water Class Action Allowed to Continue

The US Supreme Court has denied review of a July 2017 Sixth Circuit ruling that revived two federal class action lawsuits seeking redress for plaintiffs alleging injury as a result of the lead-tainted water crises in Flint, Michigan.  In addition to ensuring that the Flint, Michigan water crises remains active in the national conversation, the Supreme Court’s … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Declines to Reconsider Key Agency Deference Standard

On March 19, 2018, the US Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Garco Construction, Inc. v. Speer.  In doing so, the Court declined an opportunity to revisit an important and controversial administrative deference standard, known as Auer or Seminole Rock deference, which requires courts to give “controlling weight” to an agency’s interpretation … Continue Reading

How Challengers Obtained the Stay that Put US EPA’s Clean Carbon Plan on Hold

On February 9, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the Clean Power Plan requested by 29 states and state agencies, coal companies, utilities, and several trade associations. News of the order granting the stay spread like wildfire across the nation, having become a top news story overnight. The road to the historic … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court To Consider D.C. Circuit’s Ruling on USEPA’s MATS Rule

The US Supreme Court has granted a petition for certiorari in a case challenging USEPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which set new emissions standards for new and existing coal- and oil-fired power plants.  As reported here in April, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the standards after they were challenged by … Continue Reading

More questions than answers? The UK Supreme Court’s consideration of private nuisance in Coventry v Lawrence

In its recent judgement in the case of Coventry v Lawrence [2014] UKSC 13, the UK Supreme Court has discussed some of the key aspects of the private nuisance.  However, whilst their lordships have clarified certain elements of the tort, their judgements have raised further important questions. Factual background In 1975, planning permission was granted for … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court to Hear CERCLA Preemption Case

The US Supreme Court recently announced it will hear an appeal of the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Waldburger v. CTS Corp., No. 12-1290 (4th Cir. 2013) involving the preemption of state statutes of repose by Section 9658 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).  In Waldburger, the Plaintiffs sued CTS Corporation for nuisance after discovering their lands were … Continue Reading
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