The Fifth Circuit vacated a district court ruling in a decades-long dispute over whether a property in Louisiana contains federally regulated wetlands. The property owner sued the Army Corps of Engineers, arguing its determination that the property contained federal regulated wetlands was arbitrary ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its approval of a logging project in Inyo National Forest. Environmental groups argued the Service failed to adequately consider alternatives, failed to solicit public comments following its 2018 EA, and failed to s...

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...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for an environmental group in a suit against a California resident who engaged in instream suction dredge mining in Idaho’s South Fork Clearwater River without an NPDES permit. The group argued the resident violated the CWA each time he operated a suctio...

A district court denied the city of New Orleans' motion to remand to state court its lawsuit against oil companies for allegedly damaging coastal wetlands with their operations. The city initially sued the companies in state court, arguing they violated the Louisiana State and Local Coastal Resource...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' challenge to BLM's approval of a 600-million-barrel oil development project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The groups first argued BLM violated NEPA by failing to consider a reasonable range of alternatives and by failing to adequately anal...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin implementation of a BLM-approved watershed restoration project in eastern Nevada. The groups argued BLM violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the project's impacts, and violated FLPMA by failing to address speci...

A district court granted DOI's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning tribal water rights on the Crow Reservation in Montana. Tribal members who hold property on the reservation challenged the 2010 Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act (Settlement Act), which provided benefits to the tribe in excha...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for the Forest Service and FWS in a challenge to their approval of a cattle grazing project in Oregon. Environmental groups first argued the Service's final EIS failed to take a "hard look" at three i...

The Eleventh Circuit denied several individuals' petition to review FAA approval of an airport expansion project in Florida. The individuals argued FAA violated NEPA by segmenting its review of a single development project into multiple, smaller projects to make environmental effects appear less sig...