The federal district court for the District of Rhode Island ruled that whether the terms of a permit for a bulk petroleum storage and distribution facility in Providence required consideration of climate change factors was a question of fact to be decided at trial. The court therefore denied the defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment dismissing three counts in a citizen suit brought by Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. The defendants had argued that the issuance by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management of a new Multi-Sector General Permit for Stormwater Discharge Associated with Industrial Activity in 2024 that explicitly imposed climate change-related obligations demonstrated that duties to consider climate change factors did not previously exist. The court concluded, however, that “whether the revised terms clarified a preexisting obligation or instead introduced an entirely new requirement is not a strictly legal exercise.” Instead, the court found that the answer to the question would depend on “facts surrounding regulatory practice, industry expectations, and what conditions were reasonably understood to fall within expected operational parameters of ‘Good Engineering Practices’ and ‘Best Management Practices’ at the time” (which were operative terms for the stormwater pollution prevention plan required by the facility’s permit). The defendants therefore failed to meet the initial burden of demonstrating no genuine dispute of material fact.

Citizen suit alleging that Shell Oil violated the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by failing to prepare a bulk storage and fuel terminal in Providence, Rhode Island, for climate change impacts.

Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. v. Shell Oil Products US

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Rhode Island Federal Court Said Issue of Facility Owner’s Obligation to Consider Climate Change Factors Was Question for Trial

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Actions to adapt and increase the resilience of rural and urban infrastructure and settlements to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Rhode Island Federal Court Said Issue of Facility Owner’s Obligation to Consider Climate Change Factors Was Question for Trial

Policy instrument

Risk

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance