View Recent Blog Posts in Environmental Litigation

  • By: Daniel Bosch and Michael Doggett Late last month, the U.S. Eastern District of New York dismissed a suit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") against eBay claiming that it sold products that are prohibited under federal environmental statutes.[1] The Court held that eBay is not a "seller" of prohibited products under either the Clean Air Act ("CAA") or the... Continue Reading...
  • By: Daniel Bosch, Sydney St. Pierre and Phyllis Sims The 2024 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature ended on June 3, 2024. The first regular session of the new term saw legislation on several hot-button issues, including criminal justice reform, reorganization of state governmental entities, insurance reform, education, public access to government records, public libraries, protection of the Louisiana seafood industry, and improvements to... Continue Reading...
  • By: Josiah Kollmeyer, Andre Bellefontaine, Daniel Bosch and Lauren Rucinski On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo[1] definitively overturned Chevron deference[2], and held that, when reviewing agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, courts "must exercise their independent judgment" and "may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous."[3] Chevron... Continue Reading...
  • By: Lauren Rucinski and Daniel Bosch Today, April 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) revised its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures to revise categorical exclusions for upgrading and rebuilding powerlines and for solar photovoltaic systems. Under the new rulemaking, environmental reviews will not automatically be required for projects related to solar installations. The rulemaking also adds a... Continue Reading...
  • By: Troy Charpentier, Mark Doré, William Huguet, Matthew Smith and Kyle Polozola On December 28, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") signed a final rule delegating primacy over the issuance and enforcement of permits for Class VI Underground Injection Control ("UIC") wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources ("LDNR").[1] This decision came after a lengthy review process lasting... Continue Reading...
  • By: Louis Grossman and Michael Levatino Kean Miller is closely following the recent challenges to the Chevron Deference standard established by the Supreme Court in Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). As applied by federal courts for the last four decades, the Chevron Deference standard first requires that a court determine whether a statute... Continue Reading...
  • By: Kean Miller Most litigants in Louisiana know that the usual tort claim has a prescriptive period (i.e., statute of limitation) of one year. This one-year clock begins ticking from the day injury or damage is sustained.[1] But when exactly someone sustains an injury can be a tricky question to answer. If I am unknowingly exposed to a... Continue Reading...
  • By: Daniel Bosch The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA significantly narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" ("WOTUS") as applicable to wetlands and other adjacent bodies of water under the Clean Water Act ("CWA"). By extension, Sackett has broad impacts to wetlands delineation and mitigation requirements for section 404 permits issued by... Continue Reading...
  • By: Andre Bellefontaine, Josiah Kollmeyer and Esteban Herrera On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of landowners seeking to build a modest home on "wetlands" in Sackett v. EPA. This ruling represents not only a clarification of a major law relevant to companies seeking to develop land near water bodies, but also a significant limitation on the EPA's... Continue Reading...
  • By: Benn Vincent, Phyllis Sims and Sydney St. Pierre The 2023 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature wrapped on June 8, 2023. During this session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted a number of bills in the energy and environmental sector of the law. Below is a brief summary of all new relevant adopted provisions: Energy Act 150 (SB 103) changes the name of the Department... Continue Reading...
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