The D.C. Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, upheld an Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) decision invalidating an individual's mining claims on federal land in Oregon. DOI made those determinations so that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which was considering takings claims by the individual, ...

The Court of Federal Claims held that residents and businesses in New Orleans' Ninth Ward and the neighboring St. Bernard Parish may file class-action lawsuits against the government for flood damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. A year ago, the court ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' cons...

The Supreme Court of Texas held that the Texas Clean Air Act and the Act’s enforcement mechanisms in the Texas Water Code preempt a Houston air-quality ordinance. The Houston ordinance’s enforcement provisions are inconsistent with the statutory enforcement requirements. The ordinance allows cri...

The D.C. Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, dismissed a petition challenging an EPA computer model that states must use to estimate motor vehicle emissions when developing their strategies to comply with the CAA. Kansas and Nebraska, as well as two nonprofit organizations, alleged that the model is...

The Fifth Circuit upheld an individual's sentence and conviction for wire fraud, money laundering, and CAA violations for selling false renewable fuel credits. The individual represented to EPA and to fuel companies seeking to purchase renewable fuel credits that he manufactured renewable fuels when...

A magistrate judge recommended that a district court deny motions to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of young people against the U.S. government for failing to protect them from climate change. The plaintiffs alleged that the government has known for decades that carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution ...