The Montana Supreme Court affirmed in part a ruling that granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's (MDEQ's) approval of an exploration license for mining on private land north of Yellowstone National Park. The groups argued ...

A district court remanded BLM's authorization and issuance of 59 leases of public land in the Uinta Basin for oil and gas exploration. Conservation groups challenged BLM's decision on several NEPA grounds and sought to have it vacated. The court found that the agency took an appropriately hard look ...

The Ninth Circuit vacated the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) approval of an offshore drilling and production facility in the Beaufort Sea. Environmental groups argued that BOEM violated NEPA by arbitrarily and capriciously estimating the environmental consequences of the alternativ...

The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed in part and reversed in part a ruling enjoining the Trump Administration from using military funds to build portions of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. El Paso County and a nonprofit group argued that the president's proposed plan for funding border barri...

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' approval of permits for a methanol plant in southwestern Washington. The groups argued that the Corps' EA was insufficient, that the agency should have...

A district court denied a motion to vacate three oil and gas leases issued by BLM in southeastern New Mexico. An environmental group argued BLM violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the environmental impacts of the leases and failing to sufficiently justify its decision not to prepare an...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that the California Department of Transportation failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts of a proposed highway improvement project in a state park. Residents and environmental groups challenged the project on a variety of grounds, inclu...

A district court denied a motion to dismiss a challenge to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's failure to notify the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) of a significant change to the state's special reclamation fund. Environmental groups argued that t...