WildEarth Guardians v. Office of Surface Mining
A district court held that OSM violated NEPA when it approved a mining plan amendment that would expand a coal mine in Montana, and ordered the agency to prepare an updated EA within 240 days. Specifically, the court held that OSM violated NEPA's public participation and notice provisions when it fa...
Anglers Conservation Network v. Pritzker
A district court ordered NMFS to take a "hard look" at the environmental impacts of its definition of "fishery" with regard to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish fishery management plan (FMP) and whether river herring and shad should be included in the FMP. In 2014, the Mid-Atlantic Fisher...
Black Warrior Riverkeeper v. Alabama Department of Transportation
A district court, in a 126-page opinion, dismissed environmental groups' NEPA lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Transportation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal Highway Administration in connection with a proposed six-lane, 50-mile highway project north of Birmingham, Alabam...
Cascadia Wildlands v. Woodruff
A district court held that USDA's Wildlife Services failed to comply with NEPA with respect to gray wolf management in Washington. The agency entered into a cooperative service agreement with Washington's wildlife agency to help implement the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, particular...
Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Cascade Kelly Holdings LLC
A district court dismissed environmental groups' CAA citizen suit against a crude oil transloading facility for constructing and operating the facility without a prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit. The groups allege that the facility is required to have a PSD permit because it has ...
Dalton Trucking, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit dismissed petitions challenging EPA's authorization of California regulations intended to reduce emissions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen from in-use nonroad diesel engines, ruling that venue was improper. A trucking company filed a petition for review of EPA's nonroad...
McCarthy
The Fourth Circuit granted EPA's petition for a writ of mandamus to preclude an energy company from deposing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in a lawsuit seeking to compel EPA to evaluate the CAA's impacts on jobs under §321(a). High-ranking government officials may not be deposed or called to test...