CBF's Litigation Department uses carefully chosen legal action as another tool for advancing the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay, its rivers, lakes, and streams. Litigation is used to not only protect and enforce the current environmental laws but also to bring about environmentally friendly change within our legal system. CBF attorneys argue cases in the federal and state courts within the watershed and file amicus curiae—also called Friend of the Court briefs—in related environmental lawsuits.
Carefully executed litigation serves three primary purposes:
- It spurs enforcement efforts against those who violate laws that were created to protect the watershed.
- It helps define and drive the agenda for public debate over restoration and protection of the Bay.
- It delivers concrete and enforceable progress in resource restoration.
Learn more about CBF's active cases, concluded cases, amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs, and relevant judicial decisions.
Environmental Justice and Litigation
CBF’s Litigation Department works closely with communities throughout the watershed to identify opportunities to address and prevent environmental injustices. Combatting environmental injustice begins with ensuring that communities have equal access to the decision-making process and pushing regulators and polluters alike to take meaningful steps to evaluate potential impacts from proposed and existing projects in vulnerable communities.
Environmental justice recognizes that low-income communities, communities of color, and other vulnerable and marginalized populations bear a disproportionate amount of harmful environmental burdens. Often, infrastructure in these communities receives less scrutiny in the permitting process, leading to the development and operation of facilities that are detrimental to public health and the environment. Through litigation designed to assure equitable enforcement of federal and state environmental laws, CBF hopes to save the Bay—for everyone.
CBF’s environmental justice work has been recognized in the following legal publications:
- Wortzel, Andrea and De Las Casas, Viktoriia (Summer 2021) State Laws Provide New Pathways for Environmental Justice Claims, Natural Resources & Environment, Volume 36, Number 1, American Bar Association
- Farah, Niina (October 4, 2021) Landmark EJ Ruling Sparks Legislative Reckoning in Virginia, E&E News Energywire
Air Pollution and the Chesapeake
CBF's Litigation Department has been actively monitoring and challenging EPA's attempt to roll back many of the air regulations designed to reduce the amount of nitrogen pollution deposited into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. These regulatory rollbacks threaten not only Bay restoration, but also human health.
You can't always see it. Yet it can travel hundreds of miles before it falls to earth, maybe in your neighborhood, adding to pollution levels in our rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Where might some of the nitrogen pollution in your local waters be coming from? CBF's story map highlights four coal-fired power plants and one trash incinerator—some within the Bay watershed, some outside it. You might be surprised where their emissions are ending up.
Precedent Setting Cases
EPA's Pollution Limits for the Chesapeake Bay Upheld by U.S. Supreme Court
In 2010, after 25 years of failed agreements between state in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to work together to clean up the Bay, EPA used its authority under the Clean Water Act to establish pollution limits for the Bay, officially known as a Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL. This TMDL and the state plans to meet it are jointly referred to as the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. Less than two weeks later, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), The Fertilizer Institute, the National Pork Producers Council, the National Chicken Council, the National Association of Home Builders, and other lobbying groups challenged EPA's authority and filed a complaint in federal court to throw out the limits. CBF and our allies filed a motion to intervene in the case in support of EPA. Over the next five years, the future of the Blueprint moved from a United States District Court to the Circuit Court of Appeals, and finally to the Supreme Court. On February 29, 2016, the court challenges came to an end with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to deny AFBF's appeal.
Read the District Court Opinion
Read the Third Circuit Opinion
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ShoreRivers, DCPG, and CBF File to Intervene in Maryland’s Lawsuit Against Valley Proteins
February 14, 2022
On Friday, a coalition of organizations—ShoreRivers, Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation—filed a motion to intervene in a Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) lawsuit against Valley Proteins for violating wastewater pollution limits and permit requirements.
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CBF Issues Statement on Executive Council Meeting
December 15, 2021
The Chesapeake Executive Council met today in Richmond, Virginia, and selected EPA Administrator Michael Regan to be the next Council Chair. Following the meeting, CBF President William C. Baker issued this statement.
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CBF, JRA, and EIP Issue Statement on Henrico Consent Order
December 14, 2021
The State Water Control Board today approved another consent order with Henrico County that fails to solve chronic water pollution violations by its sewage treatment plant and sewage collection system.
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Clean Water Advocates File Federal Lawsuit to Halt Decades of Violations by Henrico Sewage System
December 6, 2021
Three environmental organizations filed a federal lawsuit today to halt decades of water pollution violations by Henrico County’s sewage treatment plant and sewage collection system, including the release of more than 66 million gallons of raw sewage into the James River in the last five years alone.
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Environmental Justice, More Than Just A Check Mark
October 1, 2021
Environmental justice starts in communities, not courtrooms.
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Chesapeake Executive Council Falls Short: CBF Issues Statement
October 1, 2021
The Council’s job is to lead Bay restoration efforts, establish the policy direction for the restoration and protection of the Bay and its living resources, and be accountable to the public for progress made under the Bay agreements. By those measures, the Executive Council has fallen short.
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Maryland Environmental Groups File Notice of Potential Lawsuit Against Valley Proteins for Pollution Violations
April 13, 2021
Maryland environmental groups sent a notice of intent to bring a lawsuit against Valley Proteins for violating its wastewater permit. The goal of this action is to bring Valley Proteins into compliance and protect water quality, the environment, and public health.
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CBF Sues EPA for Failing to Protect Watershed Residents and the Bay from Particulate Pollution
January 19, 2021
CBF and environmental and public health partners today sued EPA for refusing to strengthen air quality limits for small, airborne particles (known as particulate matter).
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CBF to Sue EPA over Failure to Hold Pennsylvania and New York Accountable for Not Meeting Clean Water Act Obligations
September 10, 2020
Today, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its partners will file a complaint suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency for abdicating its responsibilities under the Clean Water Act
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We’re Taking EPA to Court
September 10, 2020
We’re suing the Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to enforce the Clean Water Act. Here’s what you need to know.
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Waters in Jeopardy
August 26, 2020
The unravelling of Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands significantly threatens the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
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States File Suit Challenging Clean Water Permitting Rollback
July 21, 2020
Today the attorneys general of Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and New York joined other states in filing a suit challenging the weakened water quality permitting rule recently finalized by the Trump Administration.
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News Spotlight: Watching Out for the Bay
July 9, 2020
A news roundup of some of the big issues we’re watching this year.
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CBF and Partners Return to Court to Protect Successful Limits on Toxic Emissions From Power Plants
June 19, 2020
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation announced its participation in litigation challenging the Trump administration’s unwarranted reversal of the legal foundation for limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic air pollutants from fossil fuel-fired power plants.
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CBF, Partners Sue Trump Administration for Rolling Back Clean Car Standards
May 27, 2020
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and 11 partner organizations today sued the Trump administration in federal court for illegally rolling back clean car and fuel economy standards.
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Putting EPA on Notice
May 19, 2020
We’ve filed a Notice of Intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to enforce the Clean Water Act. Here’s what you need to know.
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CBF Issues Notice of Intent to Sue EPA over Failure to Hold Pennsylvania and New York Accountable
May 18, 2020
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its partners filed a notice of intent to sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to require Pennsylvania and New York to develop implementation plans that will achieve the 2025 Bay restoration goals.
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CBF, Shorerivers To Sue Trump Administration over Repeal and Replacement of Clean Water Rule
April 21, 2020
The Obama-era Clean Water Rule provided robust protections for wetlands and seasonal streams under the Clean Water Act.
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CBF Opposes Permit for Chickahominy Power Station
February 19, 2020
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has filed comments opposing the issuance of a special exception ground-water withdrawal permit for the proposed Chickahominy Power Station.
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CBF Calls on EPA to Honor Its Commitments and Enforce the Clean Water Act
January 29, 2020
By taking no action to hold Pennsylvania accountable, EPA has failed to adhere to the commitment to use its existing statutory authorities, abdicating its responsibilities under the Clean Water Act.