The Fourth Circuit vacated a biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by FWS in connection with a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run from West Virginia to North Carolina. Environmental groups argued that FWS improperly determined that construction of the pipeline would not j...

The Oregon Supreme Court upheld the Department of Environmental Quality's issuance of a permit for the discharge of certain pollutants resulting from suction dredge mining. A mining association argued that because suction dredge mining did not add anything to navigable waters that was not already th...

A state appellate court reversed a judgment upholding the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board's order granting a uranium mining company's request for approval of a second period of temporary cessation. Environmental groups argued the lower court erred in affirming the Board's order because the ord...

A district court vacated the the U.S. Forest Service's approval of an open-pit copper mining operation in the Coronado National Forest that included the dumping of approximately 1.9 billion tons of mine waste across over 2,000 acres of the forest. Environmental groups and tribes argued the Service m...

The Ninth Circuit upheld dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a set of agency decisions that reauthorized coal mining activities on lands reserved to the Navajo Nation. In the district court, environmental groups argued that the agencies failed to consider the impact of the mining on the environment a...

The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration's request to stay a district court order enjoining the use of military funds to build portions of a border wall along the Mexican border. The Court found that the government made a sufficient showing that nonprofit groups who filed suit had no ...

A district court granted Rhode Island's motion to remand to state court a challenge against energy companies for contributing to climate change. The state argued its challenge should be removed back to state, where it was initially brought, to seek relief for the damage the companies had and would i...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups and individuals alleging that climate change and the U.S. government's failure to protect them from the effects of climate change violated their constitutional right to a safe and sustainable environment. Plaintiffs argued the governme...

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's decision not to issue financial responsibility requirements for the hard-rock mining industry. Environmental groups argued the decision violated CERCLA by wrongly interpreting the term "risk" in the operative provisions as limited to the risk of taxpayer-funded response...

A state high court upheld the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee's denial of a utility company's application for siting, construction, and operation of a high-voltage transmission line to carry electricity from Canada into New England. The company argued the committee failed to consider all rel...