The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a lower court decision largely granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service on environmental groups' and California's NEPA and NFMA claims challenging the agency's 2004 Sierra Nevada forest plan amendment and a timber harve...

A district court reinstated the roadless area conservation rule to the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. The court previously ruled on motions for summary judgment that a U.S. Forest Service rule exempting the Tongass from the roadless rule's prohibitions was arbitrary and capricious. ...

A Michigan appellate court affirmed a lower court decision that res judicata bars a landowner's CERCLA, tort, and state law actions against a neighboring gasoline station for response costs and other monetary damages. The property owner originally filed suit in 1995, but the case was settled...

The Eighth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service's revised forest plan for the Superior National Forest complied with NEPA. The environmental groups that filed the suit have standing, given the immediate, concrete consequences for the recreational interests of specific visitors to the Su...

The First Circuit held that property owners have standing to challenge a settlement agreement entered into between a town and a telecommunications company over the construction of a 100-foot cell phone tower. The town board initially denied the company's application for a zoning variance. The c...

A district court held that mining interests may go forward with their CWA, APA, and SMCRA claims against EPA in connection with memoranda and guidance documents concerning permitting processes for coal mining. The documents meet the criteria of final agency actions. The government's view of ...

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The Ninth Circuit held that BLM and the U.S. Forest Service did not violate the CWA, NEPA, or the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in approving a proposed mine expansion project in the Caribou National Forest. After evaluating the data, the agencies determined that remediation efforts w...

The Ninth Circuit held that BLM and the U.S. Forest Service did not violate the CWA, NEPA, or the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in approving a proposed mine expansion project in the Caribou National Forest. After evaluating the data, the agencies determined that remediation efforts w...

The Sixth Circuit held that a lower court erred in acquitting defendants convicted for violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act in connection with a benzene leak from a barge in the Mississippi River. The defendants were convicted for failing to immediately notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazar...