Commercial Ship Discharges Now Need Clean Water Permit
WASHINGTON, DC, December 19, 2008 (ENS) – A new general permit will reduce releases of 26 types of discharges from vessels operating in U.S. waters, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Beginning today, some 61,000 domestically flagged commercial vessels and 8,000 foreign flagged vessels will need to comply with the discharge permit. As a [...]
Read More »Supreme Court May Bar Groups From Contesting Federal Rules
WASHINGTON, DC, October 9, 2008 (ENS) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared sympathetic to a legal position held by the Bush administration that would limit environmentalists and other public interest groups from challenging federal regulations. The case centers on a dispute over rules imposed by the U.S. Forest Service, but legal experts contend [...]
Read More »Navy Sonar v. Whales Argued in U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, DC, October 8, 2008 (ENS) – The U.S. Supreme Court today waded into a dispute between the U.S. military and environmentalists and appeared closely divided over whether a federal judge had the authority to force the Navy to restrict sonar training exercises off the coast of California in order to minimize harm to whales [...]
Read More »Court Ruling Ends Unpermitted Ballast Water Discharge
SAN FRANCISCO, California, July 29, 2008 (ENS) – Three environmental groups and six states have won a court ruling that requires oceangoing freighters to get a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before they can discharge polluted ballast water in U.S. waters. The decision will affect all U.S. coastal waters, including those of the [...]
Read More »U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Valdez Oil Spill Damage Award
WASHINGTON, DC, June 25, 2008 (ENS) – The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a blow to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, cutting the $2.5 billion in punitive damages award for the worst oil spill in U.S history to $507 million. The court, by a 5-3 margin, ruled the punitive damages awarded against the [...]
Read More »Court Halts Yosemite National Park Construction Plans
PASEDENA, California, March 28, 2008 (ENS) – The National Park Service cannot proceed with more than $100 million in construction projects now on the drawing board for Yosemite National Park because the developments could illegally ruin the park’s sensitive ecosystem, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Yosemite National Park covers nearly 1,200 square [...]
Read More »Exxon Valdez Dispute Spills into U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, DC, February 27, 2008 (ENS) – Nearly two decades after one of its tankers crashed into a reef and spilled some 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, ExxonMobil urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision that would force the company to pay $2.5 billion in [...]
Read More »Bush Exempts Navy From Court Order Protecting Whales
WASHINGTON, DC, January 16, 2008 (ENS) – In an unprecedented action, President George W. Bush Tuesday overrode a federal court order that requires the U.S. Navy to minimize harm to whales and dolphins during sonar exercises off Southern California. Scientists say the loud blasts of sound emitted by Navy sonar to detect submarines harm and [...]
Read More »California Sues EPA for Rejecting Tailpipe Emissions Law
SAN FRANCISCO, California, January 2, 2007 (ENS) – The California government today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for “wrongfully and illegally” blocking the state’s tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions standards. Fifteen other states joined the California lawsuit, and in addition, five nonprofit groups today filed suit challenging the EPA’s decision. The waiver, [...]
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