The court holds that individuals' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) suit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeking to enjoin the agency from shipping the nuclear material mixed oxide uranium (MOx), from the United States and Russia to Canada is moot. The individuals claimed that DOE...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that environmental groups lack standing to challenge U.S. Forest Service regulations exempting certain land management activities from the agency's review process absent a live dispute over the concrete application of those regulations. The regulations exempt small fire-r...

The Court of Federal Claims awarded $84 million to four oil companies for costs they incurred cleaning up waste stemming from the production of aviation gasoline during World War II under contracts with the U.S. government. The government argued that the oil companies are not entitled to recover all...

The Ninth Circuit dismissed as unripe property owner's CERCLA and RCRA claims against the former owners for the costs of removing lead and other pollutants deposited on the land, which had been used as a shooting range. The owner's asserted cleanup costs are speculative and were calculated without r...

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court order holding that a company substantially complied with a state's remediation plan for cleaning up PCB contamination at a hazardous waste site. The company's predecessor-in-interest operated an electrical transformer repair facility on the subject property,...

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a neighborhood association's APA action seeking to compel EPA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to act on their complaint that a city failed to properly use EPA funds to address lingering environmental problems in low-income and ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court decision dismissing a Philippine island's action claiming that an American company polluted its waters. According to the complaint, Placer Dome severely polluted the lands and waters of Marinduque for some 30 years, caused two cataclysmic envi...

The Court of Federal Claims held that a livestock operator was collaterally estopped from litigating the issue of ownership to a right-of-way, thereby defeating its takings claim against the BLM for dismantling a water diversion structure on federal land and preventing the operator's access to the s...

A district court dismissed an Eskimo village's nuisance claim against 24 oil, energy, and utility companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The village claimed that the companies are responsible for a substantial portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to clim...

The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing Mississippi residents' class action lawsuit against several energy, fossil fuel, and chemical companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The residents argued that the companies intentionally and unreasonably used their pro...