The court holds that most of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed highway realignment through Hatton Canyon near Carmel-by-the-Sea in California satisfies the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The court then address...

The court reverses the Court of International Trade's holding that the U.S. government's decision to permit the importation of shrimp caught by turtle excluder devices (TEDs) from uncertified nations is not in accordance with international law, but affirms the court's denial of injunctive relief and...

The court holds that a city and county have standing to challenge the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) for implementing a water rights acquisition plan in Nevada before preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS). The court first holds that the National Environmental Policy A...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision invalidating the U.S. Forest Service's 2007 travel management plan for parts of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Nothing in the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977, which requires the Service to manage a wilderness study area so as to "maintain"...

A district court held that BLM's EISs associated with the Craters of the Moon and Pinedale resource management plans (RMPs) failed to adequately analyze impacts to the sage-grouse in violation of NEPA. The Craters of the Moon EIS did not discuss in any manner alternatives that reduced grazing short...

The Third Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Forest Service prohibiting it from halting any drilling in the Allegheny National Forest until a multi-year, forestwide EIS under NEPA is complete. Until recently, oil and gas drilling in the Forest was managed through a cooperative ...

A district court enjoined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from continuing with its Industrial Canal Lock Replacement Project in New Orleans until it complies with NEPA and the CWA. The canal is a manmade waterway that provides access from Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway to...

The Ninth Circuit remanded the FAA's decision not to prepare an EIS in conjunction with its approval of an airport runway construction project. Relying chiefly on two cases involving airport improvements—neither of which involved a new runway—the FAA argued that an EA need not account for the gr...

A district court, in a $113 billion lawsuit against an oil company concerning environmental pollution in the Amazon, granted the oil company's motion to depose Ecuadorian villagers' attorney concerning possible fraud and misconduct. One party to a litigation should not easily be permitted to tak...

A district court preliminarily enjoined the California transportation agency's proposal to widen a highway that runs through old-growth redwood trees in Richardson Grove State Park. Environmental groups challenged the project under NEPA, the Department of Transportation Act, the Wild and Scenic Rive...