Millennium Bulk Terminals Longview, LLC v. Washington State Department of Ecology

A company seeking approvals to build a coal export terminal in Washington filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the Washington Department of Ecology’s (Ecology’s) denial of a Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification. The company alleged that Ecology improperly used Washington’s State Environmental Policy Act as the basis for denial. The company asserted claims under Washington’s Administrative Procedure Act and under the Washington and U.S. Constitutions (violations of due process and equal protection rights). The complaint alleged that the process had been “driven by political considerations” and that “coal … is out of political favor with some in Washington State, including Washington’s Governor, who has banked his political career on fighting climate change.”