The Ninth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment in favor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and its approval of an industrial-scale wind facility in southern California. A conservation group argued that BIA improperly relied on BLM's EIS for the project because BIA failed to explain its decision no...
The Fifth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' challenge to EPA's issuance of a CWA general permit authorizing discharges from oil and gas facilities operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued that EPA violated NEPA by failing to prepare an adequate EIS before issuing the permit...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part petitions to vacate a portion of a Federal Communications Commission order that exempted most small cell construction from review under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and NEPA. Native American tribes and an environmental group argued that eliminating h...
The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC's approval of a natural gas pipeline that would run from northern Pennsylvania to Alabama. Environmental groups and landowners argued that FERC violated NEPA by failing to factor downstream greenhouse gas emissions into its evaluation of the project's environmental impac...
A district court granted in part a motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM from permitting a ranching company to use two grazing allotments that had been authorized by the Secretary of the Interior in response to a presidential pardon of the company's prior criminal convictions. Environmental groups argu...
The D.C. Circuit upheld an EPA rule that classified as "recycled" certain hazardous material sent to a third-party reclamation facility and thus exempted the material from RCRA regulations governing discarded waste. Environmental groups argued the rule violated RCRA because material that a generator...
A district court granted summary judgment to DOT, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation in a challenge to the agencies' EA regarding the replacement of a movable railroad bridge in Norwalk, Connecticut. A conservation group argued the EA was inadequate ...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment for the U.S. Forest Service in a challenge to the Service's designation of at-risk forest lands and its approval of a project aimed to address spreading pine-beetle infestation in previously designated at-risk areas in Tahoe National Forest. Environmenta...
A magistrate judge declined to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. Forest Service from constructing a recreational trail across private property located in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The property owners argued the Service's decision to proceed via a categorical exclusion was in violation of NE...