The Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. Forest Service's interpretation of a mining-related directive contained in its Northwest Forest Plan as it pertains to small mining operations in riparian reserves. A regulation at 36 C.F.R. §228.4(a) confers discretionary authority on district rangers to deter...

The Second Circuit issued a summary order vacating and remanding a lower court decision denying an energy company's motion to add a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107 claim in its lawsuit against another potentially responsible party. Because the...

The Sixth Circuit affirmed a bankruptcy court decision finding an electronics manufacturer liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for $357,246 of already-incurred costs and $8,735,434 in estimated future costs for the cleanup of groundwater an...

The Tenth Circuit denied a petition challenging the U.S. Environmental Policy Agency's determination that certain land owned by a mining company is "Indian country," thereby subjecting the company's proposed uranium mine to regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The land at issue has been set...

A district court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) when it decided in 2007 to issue a nationwide permit, NWP 21, authorizing the discharge of dredged and fill material associated with surface coal mining act...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permissibly relied on cost-benefit analysis in setting national performance standards for cooling water intake structures and in providing for cost-benefit variances from those standards. The rule, promulgated under Clea...

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished memorandum, affirmed a lower court's approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') listing of the Central California tiger salamander as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The FWS made express findings based on the best available scienti...

The Tenth Circuit held that a lower court properly dismissed claims challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) land management plan for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Various local government entities argued that the plan violated county water rights and certain righ...

A district court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers erred in approving, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) erred in failing to veto, a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit authorizing the construction of a 1,526-acre reservoir in eastern Virginia. The proposed reservoir project would...

The Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of conservation groups' lawsuit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') decision not to list as endangered on an emergency basis the red knot, a migratory shorebird. After the groups filed their lawsuit, the FWS issued its final determination&...