The Tenth Circuit upheld a lower court decision denying environmental group's request to preliminarily enjoin the drilling of certain oil and gas wells in the Mancos Shale formation of the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. The groups filed a lawsuit under NEPA challenging 260 drilling permits in the Man...

A district court held that EPA, in connection with its enforcement and implementation of the CAA, failed to adequately evaluate potential job losses, particularly with respect to the coal industry, in violation of CAA §321(a). Section 321(a) requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations of pote...

A district court held that BLM violated NEPA when it issued a FONSI in connection with an energy company's application to drill 16 new gas wells at its natural gas plant in northeastern Utah. Environmental groups alleged that BLM violated NEPA by failing to take a “hard look” at the environmenta...

A district court dismissed environmental and animal rights groups' lawsuit against EPA for failing to respond to a 2009 petition for rulemaking that asked the Agency to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) as a source of air pollution under the CAA. The groups argued EPA violated ...

A district court upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' and FWS' management plan, EIS, and associated permits authorizing the “take,” or killing, of double-crested cormorants in the Columbia River estuary, even though the agencies failed to consider reasonable alternatives other than killing i...

A district court held that BLM failed to take a "hard look" at the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing with regard to the agency's resource management plan (RMP) for public lands in California's central region. Under the resource management plan, 25% of new wells are expected to use hydraul...

A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service violated NEPA, the Wilderness Act, and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in connection with its decision to allow drilling, road reconstruction, and the use of motorized vehicles and heavy equipment at the Golden Hand Mine in the Frank Churc...

The D.C. Circuit, in a 162-page opinion, granted in part and denied in part petitions challenging three EPA rules setting NESHAPs for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerator (CISWI) units. The petitioners brought approximately 30 challe...

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's compliance deadlines for states to meet the NAAQS for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The court previously had ruled that the framework EPA had been applying to PM2.5 was incorrect, and ordered the Agency to apply a stricter statutory framework. EPA then promulgated th...

The Fifth Circuit stayed EPA's regional haze plan for Oklahoma and Texas until the underlying petitions for review challenging the rule are resolved. Texas, energy companies, power plants, and others challenged EPA's action disapproving Oklahoma's and Texas' plans and imposing its own plans instead....