The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review FERC's order approving an extension of a natural gas pipeline into North Carolina. The groups specifically challenged the order's approved return on equity rate and the adequacy of the Commission's EIS, arguing that FERC should not hav...
The Joe Biden Administration has proposed reversing a number of the Donald Trump Administration’s changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations by again requiring federal agencies to evaluate the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of projects under environmental review. On April 20, 2022, the first phase of those amendments was finalized, and on April 21, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts to explore the changes to NEPA implementation, and how they might impact climate change policy and environmental justice.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court's grant of summary judgment in a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's authorization of well stimulation treatments on offshore oil drilling platforms in t...
A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the National Park Service's (NPS') policy directive instructing park superintendents to allow e-bikes in areas where traditional bikes were used, and subsequent rule amending NPS regulatio...
A district court granted in part and denied in part BLM's and the Forest Service's motion to remand a challenge to the agencies' approval of a master development plan concerning oil and gas development activities on Colorado's Western Slope. Environmental groups argued the agencies violated NEPA by ...
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning the Forest Service's 1987 plan for Custer Gallatin National Forest. An environmental group argued that NEPA obligated the Service to supplement its EIS for the plan after recognizing in 2012 that climate change n...
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for DOI in a challenge to its approval of a mine expansion proposal in Montana. Environmental groups argued DOI violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the actual environmental effects of the expansion's greenho...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part an environmental group's petition to review FERC's decision authorizing a new natural gas pipeline and compressor station in Massachusetts. The group argued, among other things, that FERC's EA failed to account for reasonably foreseeable indirect effects of the proje...
A district court denied advocacy groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM's gather of wild horses in eastern Nevada. The groups argued BLM violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act by not developing a herd management area plan, which resulted in an inhumane gather process; violated NEPA...
A district court vacated and remanded BOEM's approval of an oil and gas lease sale covering 80.8 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued that BOEM violated NEPA by failing to include foreign greenhouse gas emissions in its emissions calculation for the "no action" alternativ...