The Ninth Circuit reversed in part a lower court decision upholding a "Clean Truck Program" adopted by a California port designed in part to reduce emissions related to port operations, including emissions from trucks. The concession agreements implementing the plan set forth a number of provisi...
The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision granting the buyer and seller of an energy company damages for the U.S. government's ongoing breach of its contractual obligation to collect and dispose of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) generated at a nuclear plant in Plymou...
A district court held that BLM's EISs associated with the Craters of the Moon and Pinedale resource management plans (RMPs) failed to adequately analyze impacts to the sage-grouse in violation of NEPA. The Craters of the Moon EIS did not discuss in any manner alternatives that reduced grazing short...
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the territory of Lake Erie held in trust by the state of Ohio extends to the natural shoreline, which is the line at which the water usually stands when free from disturbing causes. Case law from 1878 and 1916, as well as the Fleming Act, enacted by the Ohio G...
The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that the South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act (SWPMA) does not preempt a county ordinance requiring solid waste generated within the county to be deposited at a county or county-approved landfill. A hauling company and a landfill that oper...
The Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that a farmer committed patent infringement when he planted second-generation "commodity seeds" that contained genetically altered seeds covered by a patent. The seed manufacturer restricts the use of its patented seeds to a single crop season....
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing individuals' claims that a city violated its NPDES permit for municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s). They alleged that the city's MS4 discharges into an estuary are causing and contributing to ongoing violations of the water...
A district court, in a 279-page opinion, held that NOAA-Fisheries' 2009 biological opinion (BiOp) and reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) addressing Central Valley Project and State Water Project impacts on Chinook salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon, and Southern Resident killer whales are a...
The Second Circuit vacated in part EPA's risk assessments for the pesticide dichlorvos. To determine safe levels of exposure to dichlorvos for certain exposure scenarios, EPA relied heavily on a single study in which six people were paid to ingest a dose of the pesticide every day for three week...
The Third Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Forest Service prohibiting it from halting any drilling in the Allegheny National Forest until a multi-year, forestwide EIS under NEPA is complete. Until recently, oil and gas drilling in the Forest was managed through a cooperative ...