A district court held that an environmental group may go forward with its CAA citizen suit against EPA for failing to promulgate by November 15, 2000, regulations to reduce hazardous air pollutant emissions created during the manufacturing of brick and structural clay products. EPA filed a motio...
The Fourth Circuit held that the Federal Highway Administration and the North Carolina Department of Transportation violated NEPA when they approved the construction of a 20-mile toll road. In calculating the "no-build" baseline as part of their alternatives analysis, the agencies relied on data...
The First Circuit upheld the dismissal of a citizen group's lawsuit against the FWS in a suit concerning Maine's conveyance of easements on a recreational trail purchased with federal funds. The Wildlife Restoration Act, enacted in 1937, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to disburse money...
The Fifth Circuit vacated EPA's disapproval of three Texas regulations that provide for a standardized permit for minor new source review (NSR) pollution control projects that reduce or maintain current emissions rates. EPA had no legal basis on which to disapprove the permit. EPA used Texas law...
The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation took the requisite "hard look" under NEPA in its analysis of a proposed incremental drawdown of water from Lake Roosevelt in Washington state. Although a portion of the EA exclusively devoted to cumulative effects is conclusory and unenl...
The Tenth Circuit dismissed petitions challenging National Park Service (NPS) rules governing snowmobile use in the Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Petitioners, which included Wyoming, snowmobile associations, and a county, ...
The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service did not violate NEPA when it allowed a ski resort operator to make artificial snow with reclaimed water. The lower court erred in holding that the suit was barred by laches. Although the plaintiffs lacked diligence in pursuing their claims, a l...
The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's rule designating certain areas in Utah as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) standard. Petitioners—two counties, three cities, and an aerospace and defense company—challenged the inclusion of parts of Tooele and Box Elder Counties wit...