The D.C. Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) complied with NEPA and that FWS complied with the ESA in connection with a wind energy project on Nantucket Sound. Environmental groups had filed suit against a number of agencies alleging...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed environmental groups' petition challenging FERC's decision authorizing a liquefied natural gas company to redesign its terminal in Texas to support export operations. The groups argued that FERC's analysis of the proposal’s impact on the environment violated NEPA. But to...

A district court held that West Virginia law preempts a county's ban on wastewater disposal wells. The ordinance effectively outlaws horizontal drilling anywhere in the county. It establishes a general, countywide ban on all storage of wastewater except for temporary storage of wastewater at drillin...

A district court struck down BLM's rule regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal and Native American lands. Although FLPMA authorizes BLM to take any action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of the lands by regulation or otherwise, the government failed to demonstrate that BLM ...

The Ninth Circuit upheld BLM's decision to grant a right-of-way allowing a wind energy project to be built and operated on federal lands in southeast San Diego County. Community groups argued that BLM violated NEPA, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act i...

The Ninth Circuit held that BLM’s approval of a wind-energy development project in southeastern Oregon failed to adequately address impacts to the greater sage grouse in violation of NEPA. The challenged project entails the construction of wind turbines and a right-of-way across a sagebrush landsc...

A Pennsylvania court dismissed developers' lawsuit against environmental activists and township residents for alleged tortious interference with contract with respect to a series of oil and gas leases. In an underlying suit, the activists and residents had challenged permits as well as a local ordin...

The Florida Supreme Court held that the state's public utility commission exceeded its statutory rate-setting authority when it allowed an electric company to use customer money to recover costs incurred investing in a shale gas operation in Oklahoma. The company asserted that its ownership interest...

The D.C. Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, upheld a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) after it ordered an energy company to permanently plug and abandon one of its natural gas wells off the coast of California. The company...

The Supreme Court of Colorado held that state law preempts a city's five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal within city limits. Although the Colorado Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of "home rule cities," allowing home rule cities to regulate matters of local concern,...