The court rejects a timber company's Declaratory Judgment Act claim against two private environmental groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The environmental groups filed a notice of intent to sue the FWS and the NMFS under the Endangered...

The court vacates and remands a district court order under the All Writs Act requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to accept dredged material in order to prevent the frustration of a consent decree between a city and the state of Michigan addressing water pollution problems around t...

The U.S. Supreme Court holds that an association's claim that a National Park Service (NPS) regulation that purports to render the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) inapplicable to concession contracts is not yet ripe for adjudication. The lower courts upheld the regulation, finding that the NPS' interpre...

The court affirms a district court holding that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not preempt California's ban of the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in oxygenated fuel. CAA §211(c)(4)(A) preempts state regulation of fuel for purposes of motor vehicle emissions, but California is exempt fr...

The court holds that a Native American tribe lacked standing to challenge the transfer of land from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the state of South Dakota. The tribe argued that the title transfer will eviscerate the Secretary of the Army’s ability to enforce federal cultural protection...

The court affirms a district court dismissal of an environmental group's National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and Department of Transportation Act challenge to the extension of a rail system because the group lacked standing. To establish standing under the Administ...

The court holds that the doctrine of issue preclusion bars a manufacturing company from relitigating whether an insurer has a duty to defend or indemnify the company in various class actions and administrative proceedings arising from environmental contamination at one of the company's plants. The i...

The court held that a 2002 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule specifying that Nevada was divided into more than 250 baseline areas for the Clean Air Act (CAA) prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) program was not arbitrary or capricious. Based on an ambiguous 1991 EPA regulation...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction over a gas station operator's appeal of a district court order requiring it to deposit money into an escrow account to pay for anticipated cleanup costs of neighboring contaminated property. The operator's liability for the cleanup has not been reduced to a...

The court affirms a district court decision that New York Air Pollution Mitigation Law §66-k is preempted by the Clean Air Act (CAA) Title IV cap-and-trade system and violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Section 66-k requires the assessment of an air pollution mitigation offs...