The Fourth Circuit denied motions to dismiss North Carolina's common-law nuisance action against the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) alleging that its coal plants emit various pollutants that travel through the atmosphere into the state, thereby adversely impacting human health and environmental qu...

The D.C. Circuit denied a petition challenging a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order directing a pipeline operator that expanded its pipeline and added compressors to carry gas shipped by several new customers to allocate the added electricity costs only to the customers for whom the e...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court judgment ordering the forfeiture of 64,695 pounds of shark fins under the Shark Finning Prohibition Act. Neither the statute nor its implementing regulations provided fair notice that the vessel, which purchased the fins at sea from other vessels, would be co...

The First Circuit denied Massachusetts' petition for review of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) order denying its request to participate directly in a re-licensing proceeding of two nuclear energy plants as a "party" before the agency issues its renewal decision. Massachusetts argued that it mu...

The D.C. Circuit held that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, or residents' due process rights in its treatment of a hydroelectric project operator that violated its licen...

A district court ordered the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to publish a final listing determination for the polar bear by May 15, 2008. The parties agreed that the DOI failed to meet its nondiscretionary duty under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) §4 to act on the proposed rule within o...

The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a Native American tribe member's indictment for shooting an eagle without a permit in violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Act. The lower court ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act precluded the government from p...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court decision upholding NOAA-Fisheries' denial of an emergency rulemaking petition concerning the protection of the North Atlantic right whale, but remanded its dismissal of claims concerning the U.S. Coast Guard's failure to consider the impact of some of its acti...

A district court issued a preliminary injunction limiting the amount of cattle grazing allowed on conservation reserve program (CRP) lands. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a critical feed use haying and grazing program on CRP lands to deal with rising feed prices. But in so d...

The court affirms a district court's orders denying environmental groups' motions to enjoin timber sales as violative of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The court first holds that the district court properly denied the environmental groups' motions to ...