The D.C. Circuit denied a petition for review seeking vacatur of an OSHA rule, the Hazard Communication Standard, as it applies to combustible dust. The Hazard Communication Standard requires employers to develop a program for classifying the dangers of workplace chemicals and conveying those danger...
A district court granted summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on all but one claim in a lawsuit filed against the agency challenging its decision in 2013 to make certain "flow augmentation releases" (FARs) of water from a dam located in the Trinity River Division of the Centra...
A district court issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding phase one of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill trial, holding various companies liable for the spill. In the 150+-page opinion, the court determined that BP Exploration & Production, Inc., is subject to enhanced civil pe...
The D.C. Circuit denied residents' petitions for review challenging FERC's approval of a new natural gas compressor station in their town. Although the project is now finished and functional, the petitions are not moot because the residents assert that the compressor's operation continues to harm th...
The Sixth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, upheld the dismissal of claims that FHwA violated NEPA when it approved a $2.6 billion construction and transportation management project designed to improve mobility across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. Despite a nonprofit group's arguments to...
The Ninth Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review a U.S. Coast Guard letter to FERC concerning the suitability of the Columbia River for vessel traffic associated with a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility and pipeline. The letter of recommendation stated that although the river...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision that FHwA and North Carolina complied with NEPA in their approval of a bridge and highway improvement project between the mainland and the Outer Banks barrier islands, but reversed that court's determination that the defendants were exempt from co...