The court affirms in part and vacates in part a district court's award of attorney fees to environmental groups that sought to rescind new mining permits issued to a company that owned a mine in violation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The U.S. Department of the Interior'...

The court holds that farmers' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) action challenging a proposed federal and state plan for managing the California San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) water resources is ripe for judicial review before any site-specific action is taken. The...

The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) environmental assessments (EAs) for two timbers sales in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EAs do not sufficiently identify or discuss the incremental impact that can be expec...

The Eleventh Circuit held that an environmental organization lacks standing to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision not to take any enforcement action against Alabama's and Florida's Title V Clean Air Act programs. The organization argued that both programs' standing...

The court holds that a county ordinance requiring federal and state agencies to consult and coordinate with the county board of commissioners on land use decisions and to comply with the county's interim land use plan, which purports to control acquisition of private lands by federal agencies and pr...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's (Forest Service's) decision to allow certain salvage timber sales was exempt from administrative appeal pursuant to regulations in effect before the enactment of the Appeals Reform Act (ARA). The regulation at 36 C.F.R. §217.4 provided that decisions ...

The court holds that several provisions of the South Carolina Infectious Waste Management Act addressing the costs and hauling of particular wastes violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court first holds that the owner of a medical, municipal solid, and commercial nonhazardous wa...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction to hear a citizen group's request for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to prevent further implementation of the early component removal plan for decommissioning the Yankee Rowe nuclear power plant and to enjoin t...

The court refuses to dismiss a tort-law claim that a tire manufacturer's former employees' brought against chemical companies that allegedly sold toxic chemical compounds to the manufacturer without adequately warning that exposure to the chemicals may cause bladder cancer. The court first holds tha...

The court remands the question whether a South Carolina statutory cap on in-state commercial incineration of infectious waste violates the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause for further proceedings on whether the state legislature enacted it for a discriminatory purpose and whether the statute disc...