The Fourth Circuit held that a Virginia facility that stores and blends coal for a nearby power plant is subject to the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) jurisdiction under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The Mine Act covers operators of a "coal or other mine," includi...

A California court held that federal mining law preempts a state law that effectively bans the use of any vacuum or suction dredge mining in streams and rivers on federal lands. Under Cal. Fish & Game Code §5653, the use of any vacuum or suction dredge equipment by any person in any river strea...

A district court, in a 199-page opinion, struck down a local county ordinance banning oil-and-gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, within Mora County, New Mexico. Portions of the ordinance essentially provide that corporations have no federal constitutional rights. For example, the ordinanc...

A Washington appellate court upheld a state agency's decision to issue a hydraulic mining permit to an individual on the condition that he limit his suction dredging operations within a specified two-week work period. The individual engages in "placer" mining—searching for gold that has moved away...

The Court of Federal Claims held that a company that funded construction of an open-loop biomass facility to provide steam for a chicken rendering plant's electricity needs is entitled to reimbursement costs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARAR), but only for costs associated with ...

A Pennsylvania court held that the state legislature acted within its constitutional authority when it gave itself the power to transfer money out of a special account, funded by oil and gas revenue from state lands, that had been set aside for conservation projects; but that the state's Department ...

A district court dismissed an environmental group's NEPA and Wilderness Act lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a proposed utility-scale wind farm project in the Green Mountain National Forest in southern Vermont. The groups sought declaratory and injunctive relief to permanent...

The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld state legislation enacted in 2012 that permits major oil pipeline carriers to obtain approval from the governor to exercise the power of eminent domain for building a pipeline—such as the controversial Keystone XL—in Nebraska. A lower court held that the law was...