The court holds that although conservation officers conducted a search and seizure without a warrant and within the curtilage of individuals' home, the officers enjoyed qualified immunity. The individuals own an undeveloped tract of 50 acres that abuts a state park in which no hunting is allowed. Th...

The court holds that the New York Air Pollution Mitigation Law is preempted by the Clean Air Act (CAA) and violates the U.S. Commerce Clause. Under Air Pollution Mitigation Law §66-k, an electric generator is assessed an offset penalty when it sells a sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowance to a generator i...

The court affirms a district court decision enjoining federal administrative proceedings on the grounds that the proceedings infringed upon a state's constitutionally protected sovereign interests. Three individuals filed administrative complaints against Rhode Island's environmental agency alleging...

The court holds that a Vermont Environmental Board Act 250 (Act 250) permit that restricted truck travel through a village does not violate the U.S. Commerce Clause or the Supremacy Clause. A company whose goods were transported through the village challenged the board's application of Act 250 argui...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Rescissions Act by reissuing a permit for livestock grazing in the Gallatin National Forest without first conducting a NEPA review. In 1994, the Forest Service implemented a po...

The court affirms the U.S. Court of Federal Claims' holding that the passage of the Resolution of Western Lands Dispute Act did not effect a taking of a railroad's land. When the railroad was incorporated in 1866, it was granted large areas of public land by the U.S. government. In exchange for the ...

The court holds that a logging company's takings claims against the United States, based on the temporary prohibition of logging due to an injunction entered by an Oregon court, were properly dismissed for failure to state a claim. The injunction prohibited the company from logging its property with...

The court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its transfer of surplus plutonium from Colorado to South Carolina. DOE argued that the governor of South Carolina, who filed suit against DOE, lacked standing becaus...

The court holds that California's Proposition 4, which bans the use of certain traps and poisons to capture or kill wildlife in the state, is preempted by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Wildlife Refuge Systems Improvement Act (NWRSIA). An environmental group brought suit against t...

The court affirms in part and vacates in part a district court's award of attorney fees to environmental groups that sought to rescind new mining permits issued to a company that owned a mine in violation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The U.S. Department of the Interior'...