A California appellate court upheld a county's approval of a project to expand an existing wood veneer manufacturing facility in order to permit cogeneration of electricity for resale. Environmental and citizens groups filed a petition for review, claiming that the environmental impact report for th...

A California court dismissed all but three claims raised by an environmental group challenging a county's environmental impact report for a fairground expansion project. The group raised concerns about impacts of the proposed development on wetlands, biological resources, traffic, greenhouse gases, ...

A New York court struck down a city's local ordinance that placed a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing within its borders. The city argued that it issued the ordinance under its local police powers and that it was therefore not required to refer the law to the county planning board prior to...

A California appellate court reversed in part a lower court decision granting a petition to vacate an irrigation district's approval of an agreement to provide water to a casino on tribal land. In approving the agreement, the irrigation district determined that the agreement was not subject to certa...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying an environmental group attorney fees after it successfully challenged BLM's post-fire grazing decisions and authorizations in the Jarbridge Resource Area in Idaho. In 2004, an environmental group filed suit against BLM challenging its renewal...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing gold miners' suit against the U.S. Forest Service challenging its decision to limit the use of motor vehicles to certain roads in the El Dorado National Forest. The miners have standing to pursue their claim. At least some of the miners ha...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state of New York and several environmental groups challenging the federal government's decision not to conduct an environmental review under NEPA while the Delaware River Basin Commission drafts and considers regulations that would allow hydraulic f...

The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service complied with NEPA and the NFMA when it approved a fuels reduction project in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. The project involves understory thinning and burning to mitigate the risk of wildfire in the Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area...

The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service's Angora Fire Restoration Project in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) complies with the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and NEPA. Environmental groups argued that the NMFA required the Forest Service to demonstrate at the project ...