Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

FOA filed suit against NPS, alleging that the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act in approving the Whitetailed Deer Management Plan for the Fire Island National Seashore.The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of FOA's motion for summary judgment and grant of NPS's cross-motion for summary judgment, holding that NPS's decision was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. In this case, NPS was not required to obtain the information about deer movement because it was not essential to a reasoned choice among alternatives; NPS took a hard look at the environmental consequences of the Plan; NPS has presented a rational basis for its decision to employ a Seashore-wide target deer density; and NPS considered all reasonable alternatives. View "Friends of Animals v. Romero" on Justia Law

The Second Circuit vacated the district court's grant of defendants' motion to dismiss an action brought by the Sierra Club under the Clean Water Act, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Sierra Club alleged that Construx was engaged in "industrial activity" within the meaning of the Act without a permit.The court held that Construx's business activity, which involved recycling debris and waste and subsequently wholesaling aggregate materials it has crushed from that debris and waste, was "industrial activity" within the meaning of the Act. Therefore, Sierra Club's allegations were sufficient to demonstrate, at the pleading stage, that Construx was engaged in "industrial activity," notwithstanding that part of its business could also be classified as activity not subject to the Act. Accordingly, the court remanded for further proceedings. View "Sierra Club v. Con-Strux, LLC" on Justia Law

The Second Circuit denied a petition for review of EPA's final rule promulgated under section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, establishing requirements for cooling water intake structures at existing facilities, as well as a biological opinion jointly issued by the Services at the close of formal Endangered Species Act consultation on the rule. The court held that the final rule and the biological opinion were based on reasonable interpretations of the applicable statutes and sufficiently supported the factual record. The court also held that EPA gave adequate notice of its rulemaking. The court considered petitioners' remaining arguments and held that they were without merit. View "Cooling Water Intake Structure Coal. v. EPA" on Justia Law

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of a motion for partial summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's claims of nuisance, trespass, and negligence arising from water contamination as barred by the statute of limitations. The court held that the statute of limitations began to run when the water district learned of the potential need to remediate, or at least when a reasonable water provider would have taken action to protect the water. In this case, the court agreed with the district court that the record established as a matter of law that the water district had suffered injury and was aware of that injury before November 2010. Therefore, the water district's claims for damages arising from contamination of Plant 4 was barred by the statute of limitations. Furthermore, the water district's claims regarding radium were also time-barred where there was a seven year gap between the discovery of the injury and the discovery of the source of the injury. View "Bethpage Water District v. Northrop Grumman Corp." on Justia Law

Constitution petitioned for review of the Department's decision denying its application for certification pursuant to Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, more commonly known as the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1341. Constitution sought certification that its proposed interstate natural gas pipeline would comply with New York State water quality standards. NYSDEC denied the application on the ground that Constitution had not provided sufficient information. The Second Circuit held that, to the extent Constitution challenged the timeliness of the NYSDEC decision, the petition was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. On the merits, the court held that NYSDEC's actions were within its statutory authority and that its decision was not arbitrary or capricious. The court deferred to NYSDEC's expertise as to the significance of the information requested from Constitution, given the record evidence supporting the relevance of that information to NYSDEC's certification determination. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Constitution Pipeline Co. v. New York Sate Department of Environmental Conservation" on Justia Law

The Water District appealed from the district court's judgment in a consolidated multidistrict litigation granting summary judgment to BP and Shell on the ground that the Water District's suit was barred by res judicata arising from 2002 and 2005 settlements. Claims against BP and Shell for MTBE contamination had been brought by the Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) in 1999 and were settled in 2002 and 2005 respectively. The Second Circuit vacated and remanded the Water District's claims against BP and Shell, holding that the Water District and OCDA were not in privity. View "In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBA) Products Liability Litigation" on Justia Law

Several environmentalist organizations and state, provincial, and tribal governments filed suit challenging the EPA's Water Transfers Rule. The Rule formalized the EPA's stance to take a hands‐off approach to water transfers, choosing not to subject them to the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. The district court ultimately concluded that the Rule represented an unreasonable interpretation of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, and was therefore invalid under the deferential two‐step framework for judicial review established in Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The federal government and intervenors appealed. At step one of the Chevron analysis, the court agreed with the district court that the Clean Water Act does not speak directly to the precise question of whether NPDES permits are required for water transfers, and that it is therefore necessary to proceed to Chevronʹs second step. At step two, the court concluded that the Rule's interpretation of the Clean Water Act is reasonable. The court explained that the EPAʹs promulgation of the Rule is precisely the sort of policy-making decision that the Supreme Court designed the Chevron framework to insulate from judicial second‐ (or third‐) guessing. The court stated that the Rule's interpretation of the Act is supported by valid considerations where the Act does not require that water quality be improved whatever the cost or means, and the Rule preserves state authority over many aspects of water regulation, gives regulator flexibility to balance the need to improve water quality with the potentially high costs of compliance with an NPDES permitting program, and allows for several alternative means for regulating water transfers. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment. View "Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Inc. v. EPA (Catskill III)" on Justia Law

FOA filed suit challenging the FWS's issuance of a “depredation permit” to the Port Authority, which authorizes the emergency “take” of migratory birds that threaten to interfere with aircraft at JFK airport. On appeal, FOA challenged the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants. On de novo review, the court agreed with FWS that its regulations unambiguously authorize the issuance of such a permit. Because the court held that FWS did not run afoul of 50 C.F.R. 21.41 in issuing to the Port Authority the 2014 depredation permit and affirmed the judgment. View "Friends of Animals v. Clay" on Justia Law

Petitioners seek review of a Vessel General Permit (VGP) issued by EPA to regulate the discharge of ballast water from ships under section 402(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1342(a). The court concluded that EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing parts of the 2013 VGP. Therefore, the court granted the petition for review with respect to (1) EPAʹs decision to set the technology‐based effluent limits (TBELs) at the IMO Standard, (2) EPAʹs failure to consider onshore treatment for ballast water discharge, (3) EPAʹs decision to exempt pre‐2009 Lakers from the TBELS in the 2013 VGP permit, (4) EPAʹs narrative standard for water quality‐based effluent limits (WQBELs), and (5) the monitoring and reporting requirements established by EPA for WQBELs. The court remanded for further proceedings in these respects. The court denied the petition for review with respect to TBELs for viruses and protists and the monitoring and reporting requirements established by EPA for TBELs. View "NRDC v. EPA" on Justia Law

From 1987 to 2001, Bengis and Noll engaged in a scheme to harvest large quantities of South Coast and West Coast rock lobsters from South African waters for export to the United States in violation of both South African and U.S. law. Defendants, through their company, Hout Bay, harvested rock lobsters in amounts that exceeded the South African Department of Marine and Coastal Management’s quotas. In 2001, South Africa seized a container of unlawfully harvested lobsters, declined to prosecute the individuals, but charged Hout Bay with overfishing. Bengis pleaded guilty on behalf of Hout Bay. South Africa cooperated with a parallel investigation conducted by the United States. The two pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit smuggling and violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits trade in illegally taken fish and wildlife, and to substantive violations of the Lacey Act. Bengis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act. The district court entered a restitution order requiring the defendants to pay $22,446,720 to South Africa. The Second Circuit affirmed, except with respect to the extent of Bengis’s liability, rejecting an argument the restitution order violated their Sixth Amendment rights. View "United States v. Bengis" on Justia Law