The D.C. Circuit dismissed a petition to review NRC's decision to issue an amended materials license authorizing uranium production for a DOE demonstration program at a facility in Ohio. Nonprofit groups argued NRC violated NEPA by failing to prepare an EIS and by failing to address the environmenta...

The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to the Delaware River Basin Commission's ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin. Pennsylvania state senators, a state caucus, and several municipalities argued the Commission exceeded its authority under the Delaware Ri...

A district court vacated two rights-of-way that BLM issued to a company in 2020 to transport water through an existing gas pipeline across federal lands. Environmental groups sought vacatur, arguing the rights-of-way violated FLPMA, NEPA, and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). BLM agreed...

The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a 2019 Texas law that allows only owners of existing transmission lines in the state to build, own, or operate new lines that connect to existing lines. A company seeking to enter the state...

A district court denied a request by conservation groups to halt all construction on a transmission line project from Iowa to Wisconsin pending the transmission companies' appeal of a prior order enjoining construction of a section of the line across the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to its combined EIS and comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) concerning the continued leasing of refuge land for farming in the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Environmental groups argued the EIS/CCP violated the Nat...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed, 2-1, a district court's denial of a Native American group's motion to preliminarily enjoin a land exchange and prevent copper mining on land in Arizona. The group argued the land exchange violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the Free Exercise Clause, and...

The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review FERC's order approving the Independent System Operator for New England's (ISO-NE's) tariff revisions that compensated power plants for maintaining up to three days' worth of fuel on-site to generate electricity during winter mon...

The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC's approval of a dam operator's flood protection plan for a nearby water pump station in North Carolina. A city petitioned for review of FERC's approval of the plan, a state-imposed condition of its water quality certification under the CWA, which involved raising the pum...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to its 2016 Kenai Rule, which banned baiting of brown bears in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and hunting of coyotes, lynx, and wolves in a specific wildlife recreation area. The state of Alaska and a hunting group argued the rul...