The court holds that a D.C. Circuit ruling that the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) decision to assess royalties on nonrecoupable take-or-pay payments was an arbitrary and capricious reading of DOI's own rules applies to an oil company that was assessed with such royalties, but not to a pe...

The court holds that an oil company must turn over to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) documents that pertain to the arm's-length sales of oil it purchased from its subsidiary in non-arm's-length transactions. The subsidiary primarily produces oil from land within 32 federal leases, and the...

The court holds that the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA) decision to enter or extend power contracts with several direct service industries (DSIs) was not arbitrary and capricious as alleged by a coalition of consumers, public power associations, and environmental groups. The court first add...

The court holds that a nonsettling potentially responsible party (PRP) must pay a portion of past and future remediation costs incurred by settling PRPs at the Sullivan's Ledge site in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Relying on the jury's findings, the court first holds that the nonsettling party must p...

The court holds that a railroad company lessor is barred from recovering economic losses and property damages associated with hazardous waste contamination on its leased site. The court first holds that the lessor's claim for economic losses and property damages under the Minnesota Environmental Res...

The court issues a mandatoryinjunction against an oil company for extensive contamination of a river and surrounding land, but due to lack of evidence refuses to enjoin three other companies. The court first declines to invoke the doctrine of primary jurisdiction. The doctrine does not mandate blind...

The court remands a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decision holding that a natural gas company's legal costs incurred in defending alleged environmental violations could not be included in its rate base used to calculate its permissible charges. The court first holds that FERC has not m...

The court dismisses environmental groups' complaint alleging that the National Environmental Policy Act requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to prepare a supplemental programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) addressing new information concerning the use of the Los Alamos National L...

The court holds that a company that allegedly sold the United States a lesser grade oil than required under contract specifications and then charged it for the higher grade oil is liable under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for violating oil management regulations. The court first...

The court upholds the Research and Special Programs Administration's (RSPA's) final emergency discharge control rule for cargo tank motor vehicles and its interpretation of the attendance regulation requiring an operator to be in attendance during the loading and unloading of cargo tanks. Gas compan...