The court reversed in part a district court decision affirming the U.S. Forest Service's authorization of six projects in four national forests in Utah. In 2000, the Forest Service substantially amended its planning rules codified at 36 C.F.R. §219. As part of the 2000 planning rules, the Fores...

A district court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in issuing four permits to fill headwater streams in conjunction with mountaintop removal coal mining. The permits would have allowed the stripping of about 3,800 acr...

The court vacated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants for brick and ceramic kilns. The majority of the standards violated the Clean Air Act (CAA) in light of the court's previous rulings in Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition v. EP...

The court vacated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' approval of a "diversion ditch" that would be built in furtherance of a mining company's overall plan to discharge approximately 210,000 gallons of slurry per day from its mill into Lower Slate Lake, a 23-acre lake in the Tongass National Forest in...

The court held that the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a ski resort expansion in the Coconino National Forest violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and National Environmental Policy Act. As a part of the expansion, the agency approved the proposed use of recycled sewage effluent t...

The court reversed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of environmental groups in their case against a salt company for discharging, without a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit, salt production waste into a pond located next to Mowry Slough, which directly connects to the San Francisco Bay...

The court reversed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in a case brought by environmental groups claiming the agency shirked its duty to obtain appropriate pollution limitations at a power plant it operates in Tennessee. The TVA argued that the ...

The Tenth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' suit to compel the U.S. Forest Service to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as to whether the national forest land and resource management plans (LRMPs) for the Carson and Santa Fe National Forests may jeopardize the continued exi...

A district court dismissed an environmental group's lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) handling of the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permitting process for a pulp and paper mill in Florida. Although the state possesses the primary authori...

A district court held that a company that owned a laundry facility for less than 24 hours before selling it to another entity is not liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for PCE (or perchloroethylene) contamination on the property. The compa...