A district court granted summary judgment for the U.S. Forest Service in a challenge to its approval of a tree-thinning and fire mitigation project in the Los Padres National Forest. Conservation groups and nearby residents argued the Service's decision to authorize the project with a categorical ex...

A district court granted summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge against its determination that a mining company had "valid existing rights" (VER) at a uranium mine in the Kaibab National Forest when DOI withdrew public lands around the Grand Canyon from new mining claims. A Native Am...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part summary judgment for DOI in a challenge to its issuance of secretarial procedures authorizing a Native American tribe to operate a hotel and casino in Madera, California. Nonprofit groups argued that issuance of the procedures violated NEPA and ...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and dismissed in part a challenge to the Forest Service's decision to authorize logging in Idaho's Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. Environmental groups argued the decision violated the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and the ...

The Ninth Circuit upheld a district court ruling that Oakland, California breached its contract with a company to develop a commercial rail-to-ship terminal on a former U.S. Army base near the San Francisco Bay. The company argued that Oakland breached the contract by barring coal operations at the ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part a district court ruling granting California counties' and cities' motions to remand to state court a lawsuit against oil companies alleging nuisance and other causes of action arising from the role of fossil fuel products in global warming. The companies argued the...

The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded a district court ruling denying San Francisco's and Oakland's motion to remand to state court a lawsuit alleging that oil companies make and sell products that create a public nuisance—sea-level rise—when combusted. The cities argued the district court erre...

The Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that denied city and state officials' motions to dismiss residents' bodily integrity claim stemming from the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan. City officials argued they were entitled to qualified immunity because they acted on professi...

The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part Delaware's and Maryland's challenges to EPA's denial of their CAA §126(b) petitions requesting that the Agency impose additional limitations on certain upwind sources contributing to the states' nonattainment of ozone NAAQS. Maryland's petition ar...

A district court amended a previous order that vacated a nationwide permit (NWP 12) reissued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and enjoined the Corps from authorizing any dredge or fill activities under the permit pending completion of the ESA §7 consultation process. The Corps moved for a partia...