The Iowa Supreme Court, 4-3, affirmed a summary judgment order dismissing a landowner's nuisance, trespass, and drainage claims against a neighboring confined animal feeding operation (CAFO). The neighboring CAFO moved for summary judgment based on the statutory immunity enacted in Iowa's "right-to-...

The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review FERC's order approving an extension of a natural gas pipeline into North Carolina. The groups specifically challenged the order's approved return on equity rate and the adequacy of the Commission's EIS, arguing that FERC should not hav...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed a district court's dismissal of landowners' challenge to FERC's authority to grant pipeline certificates. The landowners asked the district court to declare that Congress' delegation of authority to FERC was unconstitutional and that all past certificates were void, and sou...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court's grant of summary judgment in a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's authorization of well stimulation treatments on offshore oil drilling platforms in t...

A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the National Park Service's (NPS') policy directive instructing park superintendents to allow e-bikes in areas where traditional bikes were used, and subsequent rule amending NPS regulatio...

A district court granted in part and denied in part BLM's and the Forest Service's motion to remand a challenge to the agencies' approval of a master development plan concerning oil and gas development activities on Colorado's Western Slope. Environmental groups argued the agencies violated NEPA by ...

A district court granted a developer's motion to dismiss a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue a CWA §404 permit for a proposed copper mine project in the Santa Rita Mountains. Environmental groups and Native American tribes argued that the Corps violated the CWA and NEPA wh...

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court ruling that the Forest Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in approving a mining operations plan for a copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. The Service approved the plan based on its conclusion that §612 of the Surface Resources and Multi...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning the Forest Service's 1987 plan for Custer Gallatin National Forest. An environmental group argued that NEPA obligated the Service to supplement its EIS for the plan after recognizing in 2012 that climate change n...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a long-running water dispute between an Indian tribe and a private landowner in Utah. The tribe sued the landowner in tribal court, arguing the landowner had been diverting the tribe's water for years. The tribal court held it had subject ...