The D.C. Circuit dismissed as untimely Maryland's petition to review the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) approval of new flight paths to Washington National Airport. The state argued the new flight paths, which concentrated aircraft noise over its public lands, should be vacated because th...
A district court held that a railroad company was not required to obtain a local permit to repair its tracks in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The company argued that the ICC Termination Act preempted the permitting and preclearance process established by a county where the gorge is ...
A district court denied horse advocacy and environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning BLM's proposal to remove wild horses from public lands in southeastern Nevada. The groups challenged BLM's 2008 land use plan that determined the area would not be managed for wild ho...
The D.C. Circuit dismissed a Native American tribe's petition to review a FERC order denying the tribe's motion to intervene in the Commission's proceeding over construction of a natural gas pipeline in Massachusetts. The tribe argued that, in authorizing construction of a pipeline across land that ...
The Fifth Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had not waived its sovereign immunity from Louisiana's lawsuit alleging that the Corps failed to maintain the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway within authorized parameters under the River and Harbor Improvements Act (RHIA). Louisiana argued that...
The D.C. Circuit held that USDA's failure to issue animal welfare standards to protect birds pursuant to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violated the APA. Animal rights groups argued that USDA's longstanding failure to promulgate standards for birds was arbitrary and capricious, and sought to compel th...
Our country's landscape has changed dramatically over the last 50 years as a result of numerous governmental policies and subsidies that encourage low-density development commonly referred to as "sprawl." Sprawl results in environmental problems ranging from air pollution to wetland degradation. Our countryside is disappearing and becoming more fragmented, while urban areas are simply neglected. Moreover, this type of growth, which has gone unchecked for the latter half of this century, increases traffic congestion, strains public budgets, and deteriorates our quality of life.
A district court denied public interest groups' motion for partial summary judgment in challenging an executive order that requires federal agencies to repeal two existing rules for each new rule promulgated. The groups argued they had associational standing based on injuries that two of their membe...