The court holds that an electric utility company that was a 70% owner of a nuclear power plant in Iowa can deduct 15 years' worth of Energy Policy Act (EPACT) assessments in the tax year that the liability was determined. In 1992, Congress enacted the EPACT, which established a fund for the decontam...

The D.C. Circuit reversed and remanded a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order allowing states to regulate the reimbursement of "headwater benefits" from downstream hydropower plants to upstream dam operators. To enable upstream firms to recoup part of the cost of conferring headwater be...

The Federal Circuit held that conservation groups lack standing to pursue their Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 claim against various federal agencies and officials for failing to enforce a ban on importing endangered and threatened fish but that they may have standing to challenge the agencies...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Tariff Act's antidumping duties on foreign merchandise sold in the United States at less than its fair value apply to imports of low enriched uranium obtained by domestic utilities in return for cash and unenriched uranium delivered to a foreign enricher. Section...

The Fourth Circuit held that the Federal Power Act (FPA) does not grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting jurisdiction when a state denies approval of a permit application within one year. Two state utilities commissions and two community interest organizations challenged se...

The D.C. Circuit denied a petition challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 's (FERC's) approval of the Electric Reliability Organization's (ERO's) method for allocating costs based on net energy for load. The ERO was created under §215 of the Federal Power Act to establish and enfo...

A court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) violated the Energy Policy Act in refusing to require large private and municipal fleets of motor vehicles to use alternative fuel vehicles. The Energy Policy Act, which was designed to reduce air pollution, global warming, and U.S. dependence o...

The court partially reverses the dismissal of an Alien Tort Claims Act action brought by residents of Papua New Guinea against a mining corporation claiming numerous violations of international law and racial discrimination. None of the residents' claims presents nonjusticiable political questions, ...

The court upheld the Atomic Safety Licensing Board's dismissal of environmental groups' intervention in early site permit proceedings for new nuclear power facilities in Clinton, Illinois. The groups contended, among other things, that the applicant failed to adequately consider energy efficiency or...

The court modified a lower court order compelling arbitration, enjoining an action in Nigeria, and staying a company's admiralty and maritime law claims against various shipping entities for damages arising from a contaminated shipment of oil that was transported from New Jersey to Nigeria. Based on...