The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a FCC declaratory ruling that state and local zoning authorities have 150 days to process siting applications for new wireless towers and antennas. Section 332(c)(7)B) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires state or local governments to act on siting ap...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') unconditional deregulation of Roundup Ready Alfalfa (RRA), a genetically modified plant that allows farmers to control weeds through herbicide application without harming the alfalfa plant. APHIS correctly concluded t...

The D.C. Circuit denied petitions for review challenging NRC's issuance of a combined license to construct and operate two new units at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia as well as its approval of an amended design for a nuclear power plant reactor on which the Vogtle application relied. Env...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that patent exhaustion does not permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder’s permission. A seed manufacturer invented and patented Roundup Ready soybean seeds, which contain a genetic alteration that allows them...

The Sixth Circuit struck down the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' reissuance of nationwide permit 21, which authorizes surface coal mining operations to discharge dredged and fill material into waters of the United States. An environmental group challenged the permit, alleging that the cumulative-impa...