News & Analysis as of

State Constitutions Environmental Policies

Hanson Bridgett

Court Reaffirms Constitution’s Role in Water Use Disputes

Hanson Bridgett on

On April 2, 2025, California’s Fifth Appellate District issued a decision in Bring Back the Kern v. City of Bakersfield (April 2, 2025, F087487) (2025 WL 98443). The Court held the “self-executing” reasonableness requirement...more

Jones Day

Montana Supreme Court Holds State Constitution Includes Protections Against Climate Change

Jones Day on

Throughout 2024, young Americans from states like Oregon, California, and Hawaii turned to litigation, arguing that court intervention is necessary to protect them from climate change. The young plaintiffs spearheading these...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

New York Courts Provide Additional Guidance on Implementation of Green Amendment

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Based on recent decisions, judicial interpretation of New York’s Environmental Rights Amendment (also called the Green Amendment) continues to evolve. The Green Amendment guarantees New Yorkers a “right to clean air and...more

Gray Reed

Do Montanans’ Rights Include a Fossil-Fuel-Free Environment?

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It looks like they do. In Held et al v. State of Montana the Montana Supreme Court declared the “MEPA Limitation” unconstitutional. The plaintiffs were 16 youths, ages 2 to 18 at the time of filing....more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds State’s Legal Representation Legally Inadequate For Failure To Argue Environmental Rights...

On July 18, 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that environmental groups were entitled to intervene in a case challenging the lawfulness of a greenhouse gas regulation because the state’s attorneys failed to raise...more

Alston & Bird

Land Use Matters August 2024 – CEQA Appellate Decisions & Other Legal Developments

Alston & Bird on

City of Los Angeles - Increase to Planning Applications and Affordable Housing Linkage Fees - On July 1, 2024, the fee for planning and land use applications increased by 3.5% based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban...more

ArentFox Schiff

Ten Highlights from the Environmental and Energy Space in 2023

ArentFox Schiff on

Environmental and energy issues were in the headlines for much of 2023. We had several major US Supreme Court cases, Canadian wildfires that produced haze in many American cities throughout the summer, and continued attention...more

Jones Day

Pennsylvania Court Strikes Down Participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Jones Day on

On November 1, 2023, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court held that the rulemaking entering Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ("RGGI") violated the state constitution. The decision upends regulatory...more

Jones Day

In Keeping With Global Trend, Youths Continue to Advance Climate Litigation in the United States in 2023

Jones Day on

On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court issued a first-of-its-kind judgment in the United States in favor of young plaintiffs in climate litigation. The action Held v. Montana featured 16 youth plaintiffs alleging that...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Montana Court Finds State Energy Policy Unconstitutional

As we touched on last week, on August 14, the Montana First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, entered its Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law in Held v. State of Montana, et al. striking down certain...more

Nossaman LLP

UPDATE: Court Holds Reasonable Use Finding Not Required for Wastewater Discharge Permits

Nossaman LLP on

UPDATE: In response to a request for modification by the State and Regional Water Boards, the Second District Court of Appeal has limited certain aspects of its prior ruling. The primary ask of the State and Regional Water...more

Gray Reed

Louisiana Environmental Citizen Suit Survives Exceptions

Gray Reed on

The Kingfish would be proud of the Louisiana Supreme Court in Louisiana Ex Rel Tureau v. BEPCO, L.P. et al. The issues were the prescriptive period applicable to a citizen suit for injunctive relief under R.S. 30:16 and...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Boon or Bane? New York’s Environmental Rights Amendment

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Last week’s election had news outlets across the State and nation talking about Long Island’s rare “red wave”.  While many are now debating what the apparent sea change means for Long Islanders, at least for the next few...more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

State Constitutions to the Rescue?

The constitutions of more than three-quarters of the countries on earth have explicit reference to environmental rights or responsibilities. In the last several years courts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia,...more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

Extending Fundamental Rights to Lake Erie?

An interesting legal battle is playing out in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio over whether the City of Toledo’s establishment of a “Lake Erie Bill of Rights” passes constitutional muster. ...more

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