Fifth Circuit: Citizen Suit Exposure for Thousands of Title 5 Deviations
On May 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) vacated a lower Texas court’s ruling that imposed a $0 penalty for alleged violations under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). This decision, styled Environment Texas Citizen Lobby, Inc. v. ExxonMobil Corp.[1] (the “Citizen Lobby Case”) reinstated a citizen’s suit alleging thousands of violations of the CAA, and seeking hundreds of millions in penalties. This decision is a significant victory for potenti
Supreme Court: Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations Are Appealable Agency Actions
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Hawkes case[1] that a jurisdictional determination (“JD”) by the Army Corps of Engineers is a final agency action that is subject to judicial review. With this ruling, it is clear that businesses and landowners have the opportunity to appeal a JD (following an administrative review process) rather than having to wait until the completion of the permitting process to challenge whether or not a permit was needed in the first place.
