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Environmental, Energy and Climate Change Law & Regulation Reporter

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Food and Drug Administration Set to Consider Revision of Food Safety Rules for Irrigation Water59

New York State Poised to Permanently Ban Hydraulic Fracturing60

Environmental Groups Seek Writ of Mandate Against EPA over Failure to Implement Clean Water Act Phase II MS4 Regulations62

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions65

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Federal Circuit Finds EPA Exceeded Its Authority under the Clean Air Act When It Extended Deadlines for Implementing Regulations Governing Ozone Emissions69

Natural Resources Defense Council v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___, Case No. 12-1321 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 23, 2014).

Seventh Circuit Finds EPA’s Redesignation of Three Geographic Areas as Having Attained NAAQS for Ozone Was ‘Reasonably Attributed’ to Emission Reductions71

Sierra Club v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 12-2853, 12-3142, 12-3143 (7th Cir. Dec. 16, 2014).

D.C. Circuit Holds that the Lead in Spent Bullets and Shot Is Not Subject to EPA Regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act73

Trumpeter Swan Society, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.3d___, Case No. 13-5228 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 23, 2014).

District Court

Despite Finding Clean Air Act Violations, District Court Enters Judgment in Favor of Exxon in Citizen Suit75

Environment Texas Citizen Lobby, Inc. v. ExxonMobil Corporation, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. H-10-4969 (S.D. Tex. Dec. 17, 2014).

District Court Dismisses Citizen Suit against the Army Corps for Mootness Relating to Flood Control

Project77

Finca Santa Elena Inc. et al v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 1:11-cv-00296 (D. D.C. Jan. 6, 2015).

District Court Finds Environmental Group Is Entitled to Jury Trial on the Issues of Clean Water Act/RCRA Liability for Civil Penalties78

North Carolina Environmental Justice Network v. Taylor, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 4:12-CV-154-D (E.D. N.C. Dec. 29, 2014).

District Court Grants Injunction Forcing PPG Industries to Apply for a Clean Water Act Discharge Permit80

PennEnvironment, et al. v. PPG Industries, Inc., et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 12-CV-342 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 10, 2014).

District Court Finds Benzene—Once Part of a Gasoline Mixture and Separating Later—Is Still Excluded from CERCLA Coverage Due to the ‘Petroleum Exclusion’82

White Plains Housing Authority v. Getty Properties Corporation, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 13-cv-6282 (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 16, 2014).