West Side Irrigation District v. California State Water Resources Control Board
A California court held that revised "curtailment letters" that the state water board sent to irrigation districts and water appropriators in the Central Valley no longer violate due process, and therefore denied the districts' motions for a preliminary injunction. The court previously ruled that th...
Gunpowder Riverkeeper v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm'n
The D.C. Circuit denied an environmental group's petition for review challenging FERC's decision to issue a natural gas pipeline operator a certificate of public convenience and necessity to extend a natural gas pipeline in Maryland. The group argued that FERC's issuance of the conditional certifica...
West Side Irrigation District v. California State Water Resources Control Board
A California court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the state water board from enforcing "curtailment letters" it sent to four irrigation districts in the Central Valley. The letters ordered the districts and various farmers and businesses to stop diverting water from California's riv...
Openlands v. United States Department of Transportation
A district court held that the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA's) record of decision (ROD) and EIS for a proposed tollroad project between Indiana and Illinois violated NEPA. The EIS stated that the purpose and need for the tollroad is to accommodate an anticipated population boom. The purpos...
WildEarth Guardians v. Montana Snowmobile Ass'n
The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service violated NEPA and other environmental safeguards when it designated over 2 million acres of public land within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest for use by snowmobiles and other winter motorized vehicles. In 2009, the Forest Service issued a...
WildEarth Guardians v. United States Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement,
A district court held that OSM violated NEPA when it approved the expansion of two Colorado mines. The court agreed with environmental groups that OSM violated NEPA by failing to seek public involvement during the review process and by failing to publish notice of the resulting EAs and FONSIs. OSM a...
St. Bernard Parish Government v. United States
The Federal Claims Court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' construction, expansions, operation, and failure to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) caused subsequent storm surge that was exacerbated by a "funnel effect" during Hurricane Katrina and subsequent hurricanes and s...