The court refuses to approve a proposed consent decree requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a notice of proposed revisions to its hazardous waste identification rule by August 15, 1995, and to issue its final rules by December 15, 1996. The court first holds that a state...

The court holds that the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988's choice-of-law provision mandates the retroactive application of Pennsylvania's two-year statute of limitations to bar the claims of 42 plaintiffs filed in Mississippi State and federal court for injuries allegedly caused by the Three M...

The court holds that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which entered into two agreements with Canada regarding rights to excess water stored in reservoirs on the Columbia River system in Canada, did not violate the Northwest Power Act (NPA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). T...

The court upholds the U.S. government's imposition, under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, of a special assessment on domestic utilities to help fund the cleanup of governmental facilities that provided uranium enrichment services to the assessed utilities. The court first holds that the provisions of...

The court upholds the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) determination that litigation and settlement costs incurred by oil pipeline carriers in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill are "extraordinary expenses," and that the settlement agreement between the carriers and the state ...

The court holds that a uranium mining company must exhaust its jurisdiction-based appeals in the Navajo tribal court system before challenging in federal court the Navajo court's jurisdiction over nuclear torts. The court first holds that the Price-Anderson Act's jurisdictional provisions do not cre...

The court upholds the conviction of three individuals that organized a 20,000-person event in the Allegheny National Forest without obtaining a special permit in violation of U.S. Forest Service (the Service) regulations. The court first holds that the regulations are not unconstitutionally vague be...

The court affirms a district court holding that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) breached its fiduciary duties to Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust account beneficiaries and, therefore, must conduct an accurate accounting. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 returned to tribal ownership...

The court enjoins the U.S. Forest Service from implementing all aspects of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits construction of roads on presently roadless areas in the national forests. The court first holds that the federal government has committed to amendments to its environmenta...

The court denies environmental groups' petitions to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) decision not to bring an enforcement action against a city for violating the terms of an operating license for a hydroelectric project on the Cowlitz River in Washington. In 1967, the city ...