A district court denied a motion to vacate three oil and gas leases issued by BLM in southeastern New Mexico. An environmental group argued BLM violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the environmental impacts of the leases and failing to sufficiently justify its decision not to prepare an...
The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that the California Department of Transportation failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts of a proposed highway improvement project in a state park. Residents and environmental groups challenged the project on a variety of grounds, inclu...
A district court denied landowners' motion to preliminarily enjoin an irrigation project in central Oregon. The landowners first argued that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) violated NEPA by failing to include in its EA two farm-efficiency alternatives and an adequate analysis of th...
A district court granted in part nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning BLM's review of cumulative climate impacts of oil and gas leases in Wyoming. The groups argued that BLM's supplemental EA prepared in response to the court's previous ruling that the agency had fai...
A district court granted in part and denied in part advocacy and industry groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FDA's decision to allow a company to create and farm genetically engineered salmon. The groups argued that FDA violated NEPA by failing to take a sufficiently "hard look" a...
A district court granted BLM's request to remand without vacatur 27 oil and gas leasing decisions across five states. Environmental groups argued that BLM failed to consider the cumulative impacts of the leases as required under NEPA, and sought to have them vacated and remanded. The court found tha...
A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) rate change for customers in its seven-state service area. Environmental groups argued that TVA violated NEPA by enacting the rate change based on a deficient EA, by failing to consider the enviro...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed, 2-1, a ruling in a lawsuit concerning the Trump Administration's use of military construction funds to build portions of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. States and an environmental group challenged the Administration's authority to divert funds appropriated fo...
This October Term, the U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to weigh in on three and possibly all four of its pending original jurisdiction controversies over interstate waters. The Court’s past judgments and opinions have established little in the way of “federal common law” governing the states’ interests in shared waters. But they have established this much: these interests vest in states-as-states directly under the U.S. Constitution, even if the Court itself is reluctant to specify the interests with much precision or to enjoin violations thereof.