The D.C. Circuit held that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, or residents' due process rights in its treatment of a hydroelectric project operator that violated its licen...

The Ninth Circuit held that federal law preempts Washington State's Cleanup Priority Act, a statute enacted through the passage of a voter initiative. The Act was intended to "prevent the addition of new radioactive and hazardous waste" at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site until cleanup of existi...

A district court issued a preliminary injunction limiting the amount of cattle grazing allowed on conservation reserve program (CRP) lands. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a critical feed use haying and grazing program on CRP lands to deal with rising feed prices. But in so d...

The court holds that oil and gas lessees failed to state a claim under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act's (OCSLA's) citizen suit provision when they challenged the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) determination that transportation costs are not deductible under the royalty provisions o...

The court holds that, as applied to industrial truck manufacturers and distributors, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) hazard communication standard (HCS) preempt enforcement of the occupational warning requirements unde...

The court holds that a Wisconsin farming family's state-law claims against a pesticide manufacturer are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The family filed negligence and fraudulent representation claims based on the manufacturer's alleged off-label stateme...

The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service proposal for a logging project and road extension in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but not the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). The court first holds that neither the district cour...

The court holds that oil pollution claims arising under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) are not subject to the Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act of 1851 or to the concursus of claims under Rule F of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims of the Federal Rules of Ci...

The court upholds the Secretary of the Interior's approval of increased dock fees charged by a private marina operator at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The court first holds that, in approving the operator's rate increase requests, the Secretary did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in v...

The court holds that the Quiet Title Act does not require the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) to refer the determination of chain of title mining claims to the federal district court. Appellants claimed that the IBLA's failure to refer the claims violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)...