A district court granted DOE's motion to dismiss a lawsuit over the social and economic impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Butte County argued DOE should have determined the social and economic impacts of storing the materials at INL because they were there pur...
The United States has historically valued free access to most public lands. But federal land management agencies also rely on users’ fee dollars to support critical operations. This tension between “free access” and “user pays” has been an important feature of public land law since the late 1800s. The primary statute at issue is the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), which authorizes fees at some sites while mandating free access at others.
This Article analyzes domestic hurdles to renewable energy development, and explores effective regulatory strategies at both the national and state levels to overcome barriers to clean energy transition. Projections indicate that the United States will need to triple its transmission grid capacity by 2050 to achieve decarbonization at the scale promised under the Paris Agreement. The transition faces major obstacles in permitting and siting, with limited transmission access and complex processes effectively obstructing the transition.
A district court dismissed a RCRA citizen suit over a closure plan for a coal-fired power plant in Alabama. An environmental group challenged the plan, arguing it was unlawful to permanently store over 21 million tons of coal ash and toxic pollutants in the existing unlined impoundment, situated in ...
The Fifth Circuit granted several states' petition to review DOE's 2022 rule repealing two 2020 rules concerning efficiency standards for dishwashers and washing machines. The states argued the repeal rule, which deleted the appliance categories for shorter-duration dishwashers and washing machines ...
A district court granted in part and denied in part the federal government's motion to dismiss a second amended complaint in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit brought by 21 young people. Plaintiffs argued the government promoted the exploitation of fossil fuels despite knowing its actions would signif...
A district court on remand ordered that a commercial wind farm constructed on Osage Nation land be removed in a challenge brought against the farm's developers. The federal government argued the developers engaged in unauthorized mining and excavation in the Osage mineral estate without first obtain...
The D.C. Circuit affirmed a district court order remanding to state court a climate liability suit brought against oil and gas companies. The District of Columbia initially sued in state court, arguing the companies deceived consumers about the causal link between fossil fuel usage and climate chang...
The Third Circuit denied three petitions for review in a long-running dispute over whether and to what extent state-subsidized energy resources should be subject to price mitigation in interstate capacity auctions. Energy generators and state public utilities commissions challenged FERC's acceptance...
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that granted two cities' motion to remand to state court climate liability suits brought against five oil and gas companies. The cities of San Francisco and Oakland initially sued the companies in state court, arguing the ...