A district court vacated DOI's cancellation of an oil company's oil and gas lease in Montana. The company argued that cancellation after more than 30 years for a pre-lease NEPA violation that was never disclosed to the company was arbitrary and capricious. The court agreed, concluding that the agenc...

The court upholds a hunting guide's felony convictions under the Lacey Act for providing guide services to two hunters who took caribou in violation of an Alaskan regulation that prohibits hunting on the same day a hunter is airborne. In return for his guiding services, the hunters gave the guide a ...

The court holds that a fisherman could be prosecuted under the Lacey Act for violating individual fishing quota regulations for halibut promulgated under the Northern Pacific Halibut Act. The court first holds that the alleged violations of halibut regulations do not fall within the Lacey Act's exem...

The court upholds a jury verdict that a regional rail authority and an equipment contractor are liable to the owner of a pipeline for cleanup costs the owner incurred under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) in connection with an oil spill that occurred after the pipeline was punctured during the construct...

The court reverses a district court decision dismissing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) complaint to enforce a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §106 unilateral administrative order (UAO) against a potentially responsible party (PRP) t...

The court reverses a district court order dismissing the U.S. indictment against a Native American for possessing hawk parts in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Because the Native American was not a member of a federally recognized tribe, the government charged him for violating th...

A North Dakota district court enjoined in Iowa the 2015 Clean Water Rule, which clarifies the definition of "waters of the United States" that are protected under the CWA. The governor of Iowa sought an order from the court expressly stating that the Clean Water Rule was enjoined in Iowa following t...

The Fourth Circuit held that seepage from a coal-fired power plant did not violate §301 of the CWA, which prohibits the unauthorized discharge of any pollutant into navigable waters. An environmental group argued that the plant's landfill and settling ponds qualified as point sources from which ars...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's ruling that a Canadian smelter company that dumped several million tons of industrial waste into the Columbia River was liable for a Native American tribe's response costs. The company argued that CERCLA did not allow the tribe to recover its costs of es...

A district court granted in part an environmental group's request to compel EPA to produce guidelines for commercial or industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI) and other categories of solid waste incinerators (OSWI). The group argued that the Agency failed to comply with nondiscretionary duties ...