A district court granted summary judgment for nonprofit groups in a challenge to an Iowa statute aimed at preventing them from recording images or videos of conditions in slaughterhouses and other animal facilities. The groups argued that the statute impermissibly restricted their First Amendment fr...
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 New Mexico Supreme Court overturned regulations promulgated by the State Game Commission in 2017 that outlined a process for landowners to obtain a certificate allowing them to close public access to segments of public water flowing over private property. Outdoor recreation advocates challenged ...
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...
The Ninth Circuit vacated FERC orders that held the California Water Resources Control Board had waived its authority to ensure certain hydroelectric projects complied with state water quality standards. The Board and environmental groups petitioned the court to review FERC's findings that the Board...
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 Nevada Supreme Court held, 4-3, that the state's top water official had authority to approve a groundwater management plan (GMP) that deviated from the doctrine of prior appropriation for the over-appropriated Diamond Valley Hydrologic Basin. Senior rights holders in the basin sought to invalida...
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 Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's denial of an oil and gas company's motion to dismiss a civil enforcement action brought by the Massachusetts attorney general (AG) based on the company's communications with investors and consumers concerning the impact of climate change. The ...