The Tenth Circuit affirmed denial of a preliminary injunction in a challenge to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue's (ONRR's) 2016 rule changing how royalties were calculated for oil and natural gas produced on federal land. A trade group argued the rule was arbitrary and capricious, in violati...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit alleging the Forest Service was liable as a contributor under RCRA for failing to regulate use of lead ammunition by hunters in Kaibab National Forest. Environmental groups argued that, even though the Service's activity was not the direct source of ...
The Fifth Circuit granted oil and gas interest groups' and the state of Texas' petition to review NRC's issuance of a license to a private company to operate a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel on the Permian Basin. Petitioners argued, among other things, that NRC lacked statutory au...
United States v. Atlantic Richfield Co., No. 4:23-cv-00050-BMM (D. Mont. Aug. 22, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must (1) perform certain remedial actions to address soil contamination, (2) pay EPA $464,475.12 in reimbursement of past response costs, and (3) reimburse EPA for future costs, in connection with the release of hazardous substances at the ACM Smelter and Refinery Site in Cascade County, Montana.
A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Forest Service's and FWS' approval of a logging project in Kootenai National Forest. The groups argued, among other things, that the Services failed to take a "hard look" at th...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review a Surface Transportation Board order authorizing construction and operation of a new rail line in the Uinta Basin. Environmental groups and a Colorado county argued the Board failed to take a "hard look" at environmental impacts...
United States v. TCI Pacific Communications, LLC, No. 2:23-cv-06076 (D.N.J. Aug. 21, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must pay $950,000 for past response costs arising from removal action by the EPA to address lead-contaminated soil at the Barth Smelting Corporation Site in Newark, New Jersey.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement revised certain regulatory provisions concerning blowout preventer systems and well control for oil and gas and sulfur operations in the outer continental shelf.
EPA proposed to enter into a cost recovery settlement agreement under CERCLA with Crown Container Transfer Station Co., Inc. concerning the Frankfort Asbestos Superfund site in Frankfort, New York.
A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's 2020 decision to allow grazing in the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The groups argued the Bureau's amended resource management plan (RMP) violated FLPMA and the National ...