Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court ruling that the Forest Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in approving a mining operations plan for a copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. The Service approved the plan based on its conclusion that §612 of the Surface Resources and Multi...
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. Marten
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning the Forest Service's 1987 plan for Custer Gallatin National Forest. An environmental group argued that NEPA obligated the Service to supplement its EIS for the plan after recognizing in 2012 that climate change n...
Allen, Jr. v. Environmental Restoration, LLC
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court's denial of a motion to dismiss a CWA citizen suit concerning the release of contaminated water from an inactive gold mine in Colorado. Nearby farmers filed suit in a New Mexico district court, alleging several state-law claims. A hazardous waste managemen...