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The policy brief highlights a legal victory in Illinois where a court ordered the removal of 3 million cubic yards of coal ash near the Vermilion River. It argues that this case demonstrates the need for the EPA to close loopholes in its 2015 coal ash regulations, which excluded numerous sites often located in low-income communities and communities of color. While a May 2023 draft rule extends regulations to some previously excluded sites, the document asserts that all toxic coal ash dumps must be regulated to prevent groundwater contamination and health risks.

In October 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reversed a 2002 decision and agreed to consider placing the Bonneville cutthroat trout on the Endangered Species List following a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of several conservation organizations. The species had been eliminated from 90 percent of its range due to hybridization from non-native trout, predation, and habitat degradation.

The court found the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) liable for significant legal costs after it negligently issued a mining permit with inaccurate land boundaries and failed to provide information that would have resolved a dispute between two mining rights holders without court intervention. The court ruled that as a public body, the DME cannot 'sit on the fence' when it possesses information capable of preventing or shortening litigation.